The Shadow of the Wizarding World
by jamnaz79
Summary: At the end of 2nd year Dobby was not fast enough to stop Lucius Malfoy from unleashing the Killing Curse at Harry. The result is the soul of the Dark Lord within the boy has been destroyed releasing bits and pieces of the knowledge and power of the Dark Lord to the boy. Harry's life from 2nd year onwards and how he will cope. Grey Harry, No Slash, Multi pairings, Weasley bashing
1. Prologue

_Hello Everyone,_

_This is a quick prologue for the new story I am doing for Harry Potter. It will be a AU of the boy starting at the Summer of Second Year and it will continue through and beyond 7__th__ year. The premise is what if Lucius Malfoy had not been stopped by Dobby in casting the killing curse at Harry. No slash, Grey Harry, character deaths and Harry will be a bit of a player_

_Note: I do not own Harry Potter or any products associated with it, nor will I ever profit from the story of Harry Potter. This is just for fun and enjoyment._

Harry looked down at the Headmaster's desk while biting his bottom lip in concentration. "Headmaster, can I have that book sir? I think I have a good purpose for it."

Dumbledore glanced at the boy for a time then smiled grandfatherly. A twinkling filled the eyes of the old man as he met the gaze of the boy before he spoke up, "Go ahead Harry."

"Thank you Sir!" The boy quickly enacted his plan pulling off his shoe and sock to slide the dirty sock into the cover of the book before rushing after Lord Malfoy and his house elf.

"Mr. Malfoy! Mr. Malfoy! You forgot your book." The boy called out as he shoved the book into the hands of the elder bleach blonde wizard.

The man took one look at the book then glared at the annoying child. Without thinking he passed the book off towards the house elf at his side before speaking up with a hiss, "Why don't you prove it Potter! There is nothing you can do about it."

The man turned and started to walk off after giving one last sneer towards the boy. Harry motioned to the house elf to open the book.

The giant eyes of the small creature lit up in surprise as he opened the book. His gaze was riveted to the treasure in his hands, for being gifted a piece of clothing meant freedom, "Master has freed Dobby! Master has given Dobby clothes! Dobby is free!"

The blonde aristocrat turned around in surprise that shifted to anger as he spotted the elf holding a small destroyed journal open in front while dancing around with a dirty sock. The eyes of the man darkened onto the thin black haired child with a glare, "You cost me my servant!"

The scream of the man was followed up by him pulling out his wand and casting at the child so fast that Harry could not move for fear. The angered Malfoy screamed out, "**Avada Kedavra**!"

The green light burst from the elder statesman's wand to strike the child in the face. The boy was blown back against and through the door of the headmaster to settle into a heap against the man's desk.

The sneer was wiped from the older man's face as he realized what he had done. The realization came only moments before Dumbledore appeared in the hallway. The kind old man lost his gentleness as he knelt down at the side of the boy-who-lived checking for a pulse with a frown. The eyes of the Headmaster were saddened for a brief second as he felt no pulse from the boy at his feet before he turned and looked towards the noble.

The old man slowly stood up and turned to face Lord Malfoy with his wand drawn. The sight brought the strange though across the mind of Lucius that he had not seen Dumbledore pull out his wand. The man lost his nobility a moment as he stuttered, "This is just a misunderstanding Dumbledore…"

The old man started to walk forward slowly towards the nobleman, "I think not Lucius, you have just murdered a student in these halls. I feel you will have to come with me, and I do not expect your money will get you out of this one. Finishing the task that your Dark Lord had tried to start will see this turn badly for you."

No words were spoken by the headmaster as Lucius tried to raise his wand at the old man, yet it was ripped away from the noble's hand to fly into Dumbledore's own. The bit of wandless, silent magic was followed up by a bright flash of a Stupefy spell that found the noble stunned and fallen to the ground.

Albus looked down at the man with a rarely seen seething rage. The man had the audacity to murder a child in his school. He had killed the last Potter right before his own office, he had murdered a helpless boy in his fury. All of his work and plans were destroyed, if the Dark Lord came back then with Harry gone there would be nobody to fulfill the prophecy! He had truly failed the boy and the world of magical Britain.

It was at that moment that the Headmaster felt a drawn to snap and slice the offending noble to pieces for what the man had done but Dumbledore was stopped by a cry of a phoenix and a flap of the wing.


	2. The Light and Dark

Harry Potter had felt the strike of the green ray hitting his body. He also felt himself being flung back to drive through the Headmaster's door. Unfortunately for the boy the world became blurred and went dark soon as he felt the pain. The last sight of the-boy-who –lived was Dobby looking at him with tears falling from his huge eyes and lips whimpering in sadness. Perhaps he should not have told the elf to never save his life again.

Despite the circumstances that would not be the last sight of the boy-who-lived. The curse struck against Harry blinding him with pain as he felt his scar creaming through his head. The darkness of the world opened up as his eyes fluttered awake to a room filled with rays of sun shining down. A strange song filled the chamber floating to his ears soft and gentle as a mother's lullaby. He could feel the warmth spread over his body from the light. The brief pain of the killing curse which had spread over his body began to disappear into the warmth of the song and sun.

The world around Harry was a field filled with flowers. Squirrels jumped from tree to tree, while a slight wind ruffled the hair of the boy as he found himself sitting on the top of a hill in the field. Harry looked down as he heard a croak of a moan as he found laying a few feet from him the tormented and deformed body of Tom Riddle. The man's pale skin was burning from the light as a green glow seemed to slowly creep upwards from his toes disintegrate inch by inch in a path up the man's body. Tom's flesh was melting from his bones as his screams of sheer agony rumbled from his chest. The fingertips of the man reached out towards the boy trying to claw and grasp at him but falling short. The spirit sought to hold onto something desperately to try to find a way to keep alive.

Harry made a mistake, he let his kindness of heart guide him as he took a step closer to help the dying man. It was at that moment that the fingers snaked around the ankle of the boy. The touch felt cold, colder than the deepest darkest winter. It felt as if the night was eternal and no matter how much wood a man would burn he would never feel warmth in his life again.

A dark grin spread over the lips of the Riddle as he opened his mouth to mock the boy. The words came out as a hiss of pain but nothing that could be understood. But the grin on the shade's lips was short lived as the green light continued its rush of destruction up the body of Tom Riddle's soul to complete its purpose fully destroying it. A look of Horror came over the face of the shade as it met its mortality.

Harry felt a coldness that had seeped into him not disappear when the shade was destroyed. Instead the coldness intensified rushing from his ankle up the body of the boy. Finally, the pain was too much and the darkness crept in as the boy passed out.

The light started to fade from the room as spasms of pain spread over the body of the boy. He dropped to the ground unconscious landing in the withering bed of flowers as the warmth of the world started to pale. It was then at the sad, song trilled from a bird filled the land slowly letting a bit of warmth creep back into the body of the boy.

Immediately after dealing with Malfoy, Dumbledore turned towards his office yelling out, "Fawkes!" The bird had flew to the Potter boy whose body as a cooling copse on the ground at the foot of his desk. The phoenix seemed to know what to do as instinctively it started to sing to the child. A soft song of loss and mourning filled the corridor bringing even the old man to stop and stare. It was a rarity that a phoenix would sing for a human that was not bound to it. Some claimed that the phoenix song was the greatest gift that a servant of the Light could hear. Dumbledore even had rarely heard the song, and the haunting beauty chilled his heart of the brewing anger he felt.

It was said in legends that the songs of phoenix were powerful enough to return a soul lost on the way to death. Perhaps this was a symbol of hope for the child and the truth of the prophecy. Dumbledore stood there watching the rare bird sing to the child, waiting to see what might take place.

Harry didn't know how long he had been out when he awoke but he once again found himself in the middle of the strange warm light. The same song seemed to float around his body warming the last bit of the deathly chill. His eyes blinked a few times as he looked around blurry light waiting for his world to focus. When it did he found himself lying next to a beautiful woman with long auburn hair and bright emerald green eyes staring at him. Her right hand gently reached out to stroke his forehead as she watched him with a smile, "Hello Harry."

Harry licked his cracked lips as he watched the woman, barely trusting his voice as he spoke softly, "Mom?"

Tears glistened in the eyes of the woman at the single word as she spoke, "Yes Honey, I am here for you."

The boy sat up quickly and wrapped his arms around the woman squeezing her pressed to him, "Mom! I never thought I would see you…." He paused a moment as he leaned back from the hug in surprise, "Am I dead?"

The auburn haired woman smiled sadly, "No dear, you are not dead. You are just waiting."

The haunting melody lightly floated through the air as the boy squeezed his mother in another hug that he never though he would get to give. The woman brushed her fingertips against his now scar free forehead brushing the messy hair over the ears of the boy only for it to spring free again. She could not help but smile, yet wish the poor child didn't end up with that trait from his father.

The boy spoke up softly, "What am I waiting for mother?"

Lily Evans Potter smiled warmly to her child, "You are waiting to wake up. You almost died Harry. Lucius cast the killing curse at you. Instead of killing you it destroyed the fragment of Voldemort's soul that was left in your body. The night of my death Voldemort bound a part of his soul to you and gave you that nasty scar. The blood magic I cast on you rebounded the spell back at him destroying the Dark Lord. When that happened he reached out to latch onto the nearest thing. That was you my baby."

She paused a moment stroking his hair gently back and forth just watching her son. Harry could feel the warmth of her fingertips against his skin as he smiled brightly for her. Lily then softly spoke up again, "What you saw before I came was the destruction of that segment of Tom Riddle's soul. When Lucius cast the spell it struck against the fragment since was a partial soul and obliterated it from existence. It still tried to latch onto you but it is gone now. A part of it's knowledge may be placed into you when you let it grab onto your ankle."

Lily paused for a second as she reached down to raise up the chin of her son so she could look directly into his eyes before she spoke the next words, "This may affect you in the future but always remember you are my son."

Harry looked down at his left ankle to see a set of fingerprints frozen into his flesh. But his faze turned back to face his mother's smile as she spoke again, "You will be fine my son."

She continued swiftly as she seemed to be growing fainter, "Now that the fragment is gone the restraints on you will be too. I don't have long my dear as my time grows dim, you need to wake up. Use your mind, learn, live, love and laugh. Find a girl and settle down. "

Lily's eyes sparkled as she grew a mischievous grin, "and your father would want me to tell you to do some pranking."

"Mom don't go!" Harry cried out to her trying to enclose her into a hug. He felt her warmth one last moment before his arms went through her.

Lily smile with love in her eyes for her boy, "Don't let your godfather's get you into too much trouble Harry. Give them a hug for us. Remember your mother and father love you always!"

The boy woke up sitting right up in his hospital bed as he yelled out, "I love you too mom!"

The words startled Madam Pomfrey as she worked at the side of the room. Harry saw her jump at the scream turning to look at him. The boy also felt the wind ruffling as he looked up and saw Fawkes sitting above his hospital bed grooming himself. He met the eyes of the phoenix with a bright smile that the bird seemed to return.

Harry's attention was turned from the bird to the house elf sitting at the side of the bed twiddling his little thumbs. Dobby sat there in a chair far too large for the little elf as his bottom lip trembled with tears of happiness. Before the elf could say something the voice of Madam Pomfrey filled the room, "Welcome Back Harry. Now sit back and rest. I will let the Headmaster know you are well."

Harry reached up to grab his head that seemed to be pounding in pain as Madam Pomfrey gently handed him two vials to drink and pushed him back down on the bed at the same time. The boy quickly drank the foul tasting brews which caused the headache to lessen. The woman gently tucked him in under the covers as she spoke up, "I swear Potter, you are in here daily. I think I might make a bed for your own private room. A basilisk wasn't enough? Now the killing curse?"

The woman let out a sign of concern that Harry could tell that she was grumbling just because she was relieved that he was fine. He noticed the side of her mouth had a small hidden smile as she spoke to Dobby, "Dobby, please go let the headmaster know that Mr. Potter is awake."

The little elf smiled brightly, "Dobby go help!" The House elf disappeared in a flash only to reappear back in moments. Part of Harry's mind wondered if that was enough time for the elf to tell anyone anything, or if knowing Dobby he was so excited that the words ran together to be not understandable. The House elf yelled out happily, "Headmaster comes. Dobby tells the Headmaster!"

The elf looked at the boy lying in the bed, "The Great Harry Potter saved Dobby. Dobby is now and forever Harry Potter's elf."

Harry turned his burning bright emerald gaze onto the elf with a small smile. He reached out with his hand trembling towards the elf. Harry gave the smaller hands of the little creature a squeeze before he spoke up, "Thank you Dobby. I am glad I was able to save you."

The elf blinked with a frown, "The Great Master Harry Potter doesn't understand. Dobby is now Mater Harry Potter's elf. Does Harry Potter want Dobby to do anything for him? Dobby can make certain Harry Potter is comfortable!"

The boy blinked remembering how Dobby had tried to help him out during the year. Especially how many times that caused him to get into trouble and pain, he realized if Dobby helped him he might never get out of this hospital bed. Harry spoke up quickly waving his hand to ward off the idea, "No dobby. I am comfortable."

He could see the sadness creep into the eyes of the elf as it looked at him unable to help. He let out a sigh knowing that the little hyperactive elf would not be satisfied till he could do something. Suddenly his mind pictured his mother from the dream holding him and he had an idea. A small smile came over his lips as he spoke up, "Dobby, I have an important mission for you. I want you to find out everything that you can about my mother and father and their families. Take a good amount of time but find out as much as you can okay?"

The eyes of the house elf lit up sparkling with tears of surprise and pride at the mission that he had been given. Master Harry Potter had asked him to find out about his family! Dobby stood up proud and spoke, "Dobby promise to find out for Master Harry Potter!" Then the house elf disappeared in a flash.

Harry was only able to take a few moments to relax after the elf's departure before the next interruption. The Headmaster Albus Dumbledore entered the room next to a portly little man with rumpled grey hair wearing a pinstriped suit and a scarlet tie. Beside the pair of men walked a middle aged woman with auburn hair, a stern looking face and a monocle. The trio walked to the bedside of Harry and smiled at the boy as the Headmaster spoke up, "Harry my boy, you are looking well. How do you feel."

The boy turned his killing curse green eyes on the pair of men and groaned slightly, "I feel like the Hogwarts Express ran me over. What happened to Mr. Malfoy... After he tried to murder me?"

The pudgy man spoke up, "Now, Now Harry don't be hasty. I am sure Lord Malfoy did not want to murder you."

Harry blinked and looked the man in the eyes with a glare that could freeze the dead. He grit his teeth then spoke slowly, "Mr…"

Dumbledore spoke up seeing Harry about to retort, "Harry this is Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic and Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Now Harry can you tell us what you remember?"

The boy frowned a moment then slowly spoke up, "I went to return the book back to Mr. Malfoy."

Harry paused a moment as Minister Fudge was about to interrupt him with a correction of Lord but the glowing glare of Harry's eyes shut the man up. He cleared his throat and started again. "I went to return the book to MR. Malfoy I knew it was his because I remember he had it with him at Flourish and Blotts over the Summer before coming to Hogwarts. We ran into him and he slipped it into Ginny Weasley's cauldron. That book is what was used to cause the Chamber of Secrets to open as planned by MR. Malfoy."

The boy paused as he saw the frown on the face of the Minister and interest on the faces of Dumbledore and Madam Bones. Madam Bones spoke up, "Please go on Mr. Potter."

Harry reached out to sip a glass of water at his bedside then spoke up, "Sorry. My throat was burning. I guess being hit by an Unforgivable Curse does that."

He watched the pair of men a moment as a strange thought popped into his head seemingly as if he always had the information. He reached up to rub where his scar was and noticed it was gone. He caught the eye of Dumbledore noticing this with a twinkle in the man's eyes. The headmaster saw the missing scar and reached out to touch the boy's forehead, "Harry where is your scar?"

The boy shrunk back from the human contact , unused even now to it since his horrible home life. Afterwards Harry spoke up, "It was fixed by my mother. She saved me when I heard the music."

Fawkes decided at that moment to let out a squawk which caused Harry to look up and smile. The phoenix leaned down and rubbed it's head against Harry's cheek.

The boy smiled warmly at the bird before looking back at the three most powerful political figures in Magical England. Another strange idea popped into his head as he smiled warmly towards Madam Bones before glancing towards the Headmaster, "Hmm, Professor instead of talking of what happened. Do you have a few vials so I can show you the fresh memory?"

The Headmaster pulled out four vials from his robes as he stared in consideration at Harry. It was remarkable to the aged man that the boy considered memories and the use of a pensive. It was magic that was normally far advanced for a 2nd year child, most adults never got the chance to use one due to their expense. It would be a conversation to have later with the boy about where this knowledge was coming from.

Harry reached into his robes and pulled out his wand slowly drawing out four memories to place into the vials. He placed down his wand onto his blanket then immediately handed over the vials to Madam Bones, "Director Bones, I would like to formally press charges against the House of Malfoy for attempted murder and conspiracy with the Dark Lord to harm innocent children at this school. Here are memories that will show you that MR. Malfoy willingly placed the diary of Voldemort into the cauldron of Ginny Weasley. The vials contain events that happened in the Chamber of Secrets, and the attempted murder of MR. Malfoy against myself."

Harry reached down again to pluck up his wand from the blanket then looked each of the adults in the eye before he spoke formally, "I swear on my magic before the Chief Warlock, Director of the DMLE, and Minister of Magic that I was attacked by the Killing curse by Lord Lucius Malfoy. If I am lying, may my magic be stricken from my body forevermore. So mote it be!"

The boy then wordlessly pointed at a candle on the far side of the room. Immediately a burst of fire erupted and the candle lit up with a rather large flame. Madam Pomfrey put out the flame with some muttering about children and fire.

Dumbledore frowned at Harry reaching out to try to take on of the vials but Madam Bones placed them away first, "Harry, are you certain that you should be getting involved into this?" The old man obviously meant with the disgruntled look that he didn't approve of the young man to get involved into the political and legal situation he was about to get into.

Harry smiled brightly at the Headmaster then shook his head, "Thank you for your concern Headmaster but I am confident that I want to be involved. The man tried to kill me in cold blood in the middle of the school. I offer to take veritaserum about the event as well Madam Bones. Please have your Department contact me for any further questions that may need to be answered after you review those memories."

The woman smiled kindly at the boy, "Yes Harry, that would not be a problem at all. I believe that a magical oath and memories will be enough without the need for veritaserum. For now though I should get these to the office vials to be analyzed right away. There are Aurors stationed outside the door Harry for your protection, so please rest and relax."

Dumbledore looked at the boy with a sad smile then spoke up, "Harry, the rest of the students have already left for the year. But, I have arranged to have you floo'd to the Leaky Cauldron where you will be given a ride home by your relatives."

Harry grimaced then spoke up, "Professor, Do I have to go back to those abusive muggles? The hurt me, they locked me up in a cupboard for ten years. Last year they didn't feed me or let me drink any water for almost a week at a time just to purposely abuse and torture me. I almost died. Why do you keep forcing me to go back there all because some silly Blood ward?"

The Minster of Magic and Head of the DMLE were about to leave the room when Harry spoke loudly about his home life. Harry mentally grinned to himself at the situation he just caused knowing that he would be free of the Dusely's soon. The look on Dumbledore's face was priceless. The man simply was stunned, he was facing to Harry with his mouth hung open unable to respond for the moment. He could not believe that Harry would reveal this information in front of the head of the magical law offices and the Minster. He could already calculate the amount of political favors he would owe for this situation.

Amelia Bones walked back over to Harry with a frown. "I want to hear everything about this situation Harry. An you provide me with a few memories too?"

Harry looked at her with a bit of concern at giving up those memories, they were situations he did not want to relive he spoke carefully, "Can you do anything about the muggle abusing me?"

Madam Bones face took on a dark cast as her eyes Harry would say shimmered with anger, "Abusing a child? Yes, I think I can handle a situation like that Harry."

Harry looked at the frown of worry that was on the face of the Headmaster then back to Madam Bones giving her a small smile that barely curved the end of his lips, "Of course Madam Bones, I trust you. I will tell you everything."

Dumbledore stepped towards Harry and started to speak up, "Harry…"

But, he was cut off by the Minister of Magic who was frowning at Dumbledore, "Perhaps Albus it would be best if we let them talk quietly. Amelia, I will get Harry a room at the Leaky Cauldron for the next week and you can assign him some Auror protectors during that time."

The woman turned a smile towards the Minister with a bow of her head respectfully. She then gave a look that could kill towards Dumbledore before finally speaking up, "Thank you Minister. I think that indeed will be necessary for Mr. Potter."

Amelia then turned back towards the boy as the pair of wizards left the room, "Now Harry tell me everything that you have gone through at home and this school so I can help you."

I hope everyone lines chapter 2. I have about 20,000 words already written for the story. I haven't decided a pairing yet, but I am open for suggestions. Just it will not be Ginny or anything Slash. Any suggestions let me know. Please review and let me know your thoughts on the story. I am always open for ideas


	3. Who am I really?

_Note: I don't own Harry Potter, I don't own anything to do with the stories, movies, characters, etc etc etc._

Two Days Later

The boy appeared through the fireplace into the Leaky Cauldron with a stumble. Harry stood up covered in soot as he grumbled under his breath about always falling whenever he used the floo network. The boy stepped to the side and started to brush the soot from his clothing. A moment after Harry stepped away the fireplace allowed a tall black wizard with broad shoulders to step through. The man was bald and wore a single gold hoop earring. He was dressed in a set of blue wizard robes with a dragonskin vest about to be stopped to those carefully looking under it. He turned towards the boy and smiled warmly, "Come Harry, I have the rooms prepared."

The man led the boy up the stairs after a wave towards Tom the barkeep. They entered in a room that appeared to be suite; it had a large antechamber filled with couches and a fireplace. Two rooms were set off to the side for bedrooms. Overall Harry felt a warmth from the place, it was definitely a step up from the Dursley family. Between the couches the boy saw a small coffee table with a few books placed onto it. Harry spotted a card on top of the books with his name on it.

Kingsley gave the boy a disarming smile, "Harry, the room on the right will be yours to use. I need to handle a few matters downstairs and setup a few extra wards for your protection. I was told that you were raised by some muggles, so I had my apprentice get you those books on the Wizarding world. I figured that after everything you went through learning a bit about the world you are stuck in might be useful."

Harry blinked in surprise at the kindness of the man then spoke up softly, "Thank you Mr. Shacklebolt."

The man gave a squeeze to the shoulder of the boy, "Just Kingsley is fine Harry. I will be your protector with my apprentice till your situation is settled. Rest and relax for now, just please stay in this room. Now I will be back to check on you in a few hours with some good food."

A few hours later Harry woke from a nap to some knocking on the door. The boy had curled up on the sofa promptly fell asleep. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes he walked over and opened the door. Standing in the doorway was a wizard that appeared to be in his late forties. He had dark black hair falling down his shoulders that was touched with a few lines of grey at the temples. His eyes, a pair bright sky blue that seemed to shine while being settled between a strong nose. The man had a chiseled chin and a businesslike demeanor that was lessened only by the smile he projected towards Harry. He spoke with a deep voice, "Hello Mr. Potter. I am your solicitor Cyrus Greengrass."

Harry blinked in surprise looking the man up and down noticing the expensive leather briefcase for that the first time that the man was holding. The thought just occurred to him that perhaps when the Auror had told him to stay in the room he meant not to open the door to strangers. But, it was too late for that idea, "A solicitor for me?"

A patient smile came over the man's face, "Yes, I notified your protector that I would be coming over. May I come in and explain?"

Harry realized he was keeping the man in the hallway so he stepped aside allowing the man to enter. After closing the door, the boy slipped his left hand into the pocket of his robes holding to the end of his wand as he watched Mr. Greengrass carefully. The man placed down his briefcase on the coffee table before the couch then sat down raising an eyebrow at the boy waiting for him to join the man.

Harry stepped over and sat down on one of the chairs next to the couch as he placed his wand down before himself in easy reach.

The black haired man reached over and placed a large vanilla folder down before Harry that had the name Harry James Potter on the front of it, "Now Harry. You are an important person and your situation is very different than normal for our world. So I have been contacted by Gringotts, due to your family using my firm, to represent your family's interests in the coming trials."

The boy blinked at the man with a frown, "I am important because I am the boy-who-lived? Why would that matter to the goblins?"

The dark haired man shook his head back and forth, No Harry, although it is important to many that you are the boy-who-lived, the goblins do not care for that matter. They only care because your family is rather well off. They view your care as important to your Household as Heir of House Potter and because the recent events of attempted murder, in addition the abusive treatment of your relatives, they wish to make certain that you are being properly raised and cared for. To put it bluntly, you are important to them because of your family fortunes and nobility. If you were to pass away the gold of your family would no longer be available to them to make use of due to the conventions of the goblin wars."

Harry frowned a moment at the idea that Binns class may have actually been useful, he would have to pay attention next year. Then he shook his head and the thoughts away, "What do you mean? I saw my vault it has a few thousand gallons in it only. Why would my family be so important? We are not different then any other wizard family."

Cyrus frowned back at the boy, "You don't know anything of your family history Mr. Potter?"

He let out a frustrated sigh at the shake of the head of the boy, "House Potter has been around since the times of the Romans. They were an important Ancient and Noble House and one of the remaining ten founding families of the Wizengamot. Harry, you are far better off monetary wize then just what you saw in your trust account."

The man paused a moment before he continued, "Mr. Potter, you haven't been told anything about you family? Not even by your relatives or magical guardian?"

The boy frowned at the question before he spoke up, "No, I have a magical guardian?"

The man watched the boy with a frown for long moments then let out a sigh. He stood up closing his briefcase and shrinking it away then looked at the boy, "come let's invenstigate this situation. I was not able to access your parents Will in the Ministry of Magic. It has been sealed there from public view, accordingly for your own protection. But, there is no reason you would not be able to see it."

Harry frowned as he started to follow the man out of the room. Immediately as he stepped room out of the room a pink haired young woman in her late teams seemed to step out of the wall across from the doorway.

The woman looked vaguely familiar from school, she stood around five foot seven with bright pink hair. She wore black robes that seemed to be rather tight against her skin as he noticed a few curves under them. Her feet were in combat boots and her eyes darted around the hallway as she frowned.

Harry assumed that she must be the apprentice that Kingsley had spoken about so he turned to follow Mr. Greengrass whom seemed to ignore the girl. "Where do we go to find my parent's Will if it is sealed Mr. Greengrass?"

The blank haired man stopped and looked back at the boy with a patient smile, "Gringotts Harry. They have all of the Will's on file for the noble families. Even if the Ministry has sealed the Will it would not be sealed by the goblins for a family member."

Harry pulled up the hood of his cloak to shadow his face as he turned to follow Mr. Greengrass again. The trio walked down through the Leaky Cauldron to out the walled entrance to Diagon Alley. When the y reached the brick wall Harry turned to look at the woman still following them with a frown, "I know you but I can't place the face."

Tonks dark eyes scanned over the face of Harry with a warm smile. She had pulled the hood of her Auror cloak up to cover her hair, which Harry noticed was now black instead of bright neon pink. He noticed she had dark brown eyebrows and a smaller cute nose. She offered him a bright smile with shining white teeth as she spoke up, "Am I that forgettable Harry? We were in school together last year. Tonks from Hufflepuff? "

The boy blinked at the cute young woman then smiled brightly, "Now I remember. Yes, you played Beater for their quidditch team right? You are an Auror now?"

The young woman shook her head as the wall opened up by Mr. Greengrass and the trio started to walk towards the goblin bank. While they moved along Tonks spoke with Harry, yet the boy could see her eyes were always shifting around towards buildings and other people. "I am just an apprentice for now to Kingsley. I will be going to Auror training for a year after the Summer, but for today I get to watch you along with Mr. Greengrass. Though, we were not supposed to leave the Leaky Cauldron."

The woman shot a quick glare at Cyrus whom seemed to not notice as they walked up the steps of the six story building of Gringotts Bank. The building was made of white marble with columns raised from the ground to support the second level. The bank seemed to be constructed to lean to the left and right depending on the level.

The trio made it up the steps and entered into the main chamber walking over to the fist goblin teller that was free. The creature looked up and spoke in a rough haggard voice, "What do you want?"

Mg. Greengrass spoke up calmly in return, "We come in the interests of House Potter, we wish to speak with his account manager and view Mr. Potter's Will."

The goblin shifted his gaze from the tall black haired man over to the boy with a perpetual frown which turned to a glare as he noticed the lack of scar on the forehead of the child. "Do you have his key?"

Mr. Greengrass turned to look at Harry whom shook his head slowly negative, "No, I was never allowed to keep the Key."

This of course caused the older man to frown again before he looked back at the goblin, "He will take a blood test to prove whom he is."

The goblin grunted with a frown, "Very well, wait here."

The trio waited for around ten minutes till a small goblin that seemed to have more white hair in it's ears then head walked forward. He looked over the trio stopped his gaze to linger on Harry, "Mr. Potter, I am Grrack. I am the account manager for House Potter. You will follow me for blood testing of lineage and then we can review your family Will."

The goblin turned around and walked down the hallway expecting the trio of humans to follow it. After a few minutes that Harry was certain that he would be lost here after walking through numerous corridors the goblin stopped and looked at the three humans. He spoke gruffly before entering the room. "The solicitor may enter but the woman waits outside. I should also mention that if you are not truly Harry James Potter then the goblin nation has the right to terminate all false claimants on the spot."

Tonks glanced at Harry whom seemed a bit white then settled down on the bench facing the doorway to keep an eye out. She flashed a smile towards Harry the boy seemed to not notice as he walked into the room.

The room was small around ten by ten with plain white walls and a large table in the middle with four chairs. There was a stack of white papers on the table next to a large intricately looking porcelain bowl. The boy was carved with numerous rubes of all different shapes that Harry had never seen before. Laying across the bowl was a large silver knife that too was carved with runes. The goblin sat down in one of the chairs while looking up at Mr. Greengrass and Harry.

The boy swallowed then walked over to sit before the goblin. He felt Mr. Greengrass take the seat next to himself as Grrack spoke up, "Mr. Potter we will perform a blood testing to verify whom you are. This will be allowed to notify all possible claims that you may have on blood relations. Now provide your hand."

Harry let out a sigh, rolled back the sleeve of his too large, faded muggle shirt then reached out his hand towards the goblin.

Grrack took the hand with small, calloused and rough fingers then turned so the wrist facing down before sliding across it with the silver knife.

Harry winced at the cut as his vein was split, watching the blood flow down into the clear rune carved bowl. After a few moments Grrack placed down the knife and plucked up a cloth to press to the wound. The cloth glowed briefly and Harry felt a cooling sensation on his arm. Removing the cloth the boy could see that the cut was no longer there. Under his breath the boy muttered to himself "Wish I had this to deal with the Dursley abuse."

Mr. Greengrass looked over at the boy, catching the words as his lips pressed together into a distinct frown.

The goblin in the meantime had placed a parchment over the top of the bowl. The parchment started to glow crimson color as the blood seemed to disappear from the bowl. A few minutes past in silence before the goblin pulled away the parchment. The boy was spotless as if it had never been filled with blood. The parchment's glow seemed to fade from crimson to a soft blue as Grrack laid it down before the two humans.

Grrack cleared his throat then spoke up, "You are the pureblood son of James of House Potter and Lily of House Golge."

Mr. Greengrass blinked in surprise as a slight frown formed on is lips, "House Golge? I am not familiar with that Household. I thought Lily Potter was named Evans."

Grrack growled in frustration at the humans question before answered, "She was adopted by the muggle family of the Evans Household. As for how, I do not know of human matters like that perhaps something was left to indicate why in her grandmother's vault." The goblin stopped to gaze at Harry closely to see how he was taking the knowledge.

The boy sat perfectly still in concentration over what he had just heard. His mother was adopted. She was not a muggleborn! Hell, he wasn't even related to the Dursley family! Why the fuck was he with the Dursley family then? How was those wards powered?

Harry cleared his throat then spoke up, "Mr. Grrack if a blood ward was set to a location that supposedly used as a connection for my blood to my mother's adopted sister how would it be powdered?"

The goblin frowned and looked at the boy a moment, "There could not be a ward by blood there Mr. Potter. You are not blood related to that muggle family. I would guess that if there was a ward it would then be powered by your own and the casters magic to sustain it."

Harry closed his eyes and thought about how he felt so much weaker whenever he came back home to the Dursley family. Whenever he was at the house he would feel a bitter drain on his body. He would often feel sickly and not well, even though he was never actually sick. It had to be the case that Dumbledore had been using him to power the ward, then perhaps whatever happened to him when Malfoy hit him with the killing curse served that link. Harry's killing curse green eyes snapped open, "The goblins are good curse breakers currect?"

Grrack for a moment looked very insulted, to the point that Harry wondered if he should have asked that question, "We are the best."

Harry's fingertips started to drum onto the tabletop as he frowned, "My account would have enough ti pay for two teams of curse breakers on a rush notice then correct?"

Grrack raised an eyebrow looking between Harry and Mr. Greengrass with a single nod. "Your trust vault would cover the expense. You can not access your main fault value of the Potter family and unfortunately we do not have ant information on what is contained in the House Golge vault in Istanbul. It is quite an expense but your trust vault will refill on your birthday to full."

Harry frowned as he looked down at his knuckles seeming them turn white, so he removed them from the table to fold into his lap. The boy took a deep calming breath, making a note that someday he would need to do something for his anger but for the moment it felt righteous, ""I want to know what the ward is before it disappears. The Headmaster required me to stay at my aunt's residence every year. Supposedly, if I am there I am safe from some ward. I just want to find out why. I will pay the cost to find out what the ward did to me."

Mr. Greengrass slightly frowned at the corners of his lips as he watched the goblin and boy speak, The idea of a blood ward being placed and powered by a child was sickening to the man. He considered someone doing that to his two little girls and became incensed. Blood magic was darker magic and although most old families still used it sometimes for protection to power it with a growing child was unheard of. He spoke up, "We would definitely be interested to determine what Mr. Potter has been subjected to. The sooner these services can be acquired the better."

Grrack frowned then pressed a button on the desk. He pulled out a piece of parchment then passed it to Harry in which the boy read over and signed at once, "This is the authorization for two teams and the fees associated. They will be dispatched within the hour. I will see the report delivered to each of you."

A goblin walked in and picked up the parchment before departed without a word. Once he was gone Grrack turned back to the humans, "Now here is a list of your assets from House Potter. Most of the Potter family assets will not be able to be acquired till after you are considered an adult at fifteen or you have special disposition to emancipate yourself."

Harry took hold of the paper studying it over with a frown. The top of the parchment read the Ancient and Noble House of Potter. Under the heading Harry saw a list of seventy five million gallons in the family vault. His own trust vault was replenished to seven thousand gallons every year. Still with the exchange rate listed ten pounds to a gallon Harry would never need to worry about money in his lifetime. In addition to money there was a list of assets including foreign and domestic businesses in the muggle and magical world including part ownership in the wizard wireless company and Mr. Greengrass firm.

There were six current residence that the Potter family owned. The one he knew about was Godrick's Hallow residence which had been destroyed and left unrepaired. It appeared to have been claimed as a magic historical sight by the Ministry of Magic. Harry was not certain how he felt of the place of his parent's deaths being a considered the Disney World of Magical Britain, but he let that stay for now.

In addition there was Potter Manor which was located in Scotland near Hogwarts actually. Unfortunately, the Manor was also listed as being in ruined condition. Perhaps he could get the goblins to fix the Manor when he became of age to move in. He also owned a flat in downtown London, a second flat in downtown Paris, a house in strangely enough Istanbul. That house begged the question if his mother knew of her heritage. Finally, the most interesting part was that he owned the residence that the Dursleys lived in at number 4 Privet drive. A smirk crossed the lips of Harry as he considered at the Dursleys had never paid him rent.

Harry looked up with a grin splitting his face that the Cheshire cat from Alice in Wonderful would be proud of, "I believe that we need to evict the family living at number 4 Privet Drive. Please have them out on the streets as soon as possible. That should make it easier to have your teams study the wards."

Grrack's face took on a grin, that looked like a glare but perhaps that was just the way of goblins, "It shall be done by this evening. I have someone acquiring the Will of your parents first. But, after that Mr. Potter we have three vaults that you may visit. Your trust vault, a Ministry started Potter family vault containing items from your residence at Goddrick's Hallow, and finally a secondary family vault for House Golge is here. Which do you wish to visit?"

Harry glanced at his representative then back to the goblin, "I would like to see my families Will then visit the Golge vault and the vault with my parents processions."

Grrack pressed a button and the same goblin as before walked in and placed down a sealed envelope onto the table. Grrack handed the envelope with a dagger to Harry and watched quietly.

The boy pricked his finger and pressed his against the envelope, slowly it unraveled into a long sheet of paper. The boy glanced it over quickly with a frown, it simply outlined that Harry would acquire all of their processions and would become the Heir of House Potter. There were instructions that Harry would be required to enter his mother's family vault once he became eleven years old. There was no further instructions for Harry of what he would do within the vault on that he would enter alone. The boy glanced down at the common list of items on the Will till he stopped on the guardians with another frown. Not speaking a word Harry just shook his head and passed the Will over to Mr. Greengrass.

Mr. Greengrass took the Will to read quietly, as he did a small tick started to form on his forehead before he spoke up, "It appears that you were not supposed to be placed anywhere near your Aunt or Uncle ever."

Harry quietly nodded his head and his right hand tapped his fingertips onto the table, "I should have been given to my godfather Sirius Black and if that failed House Longbottom or House Diggory to be raised."

The killing curse green eyes of the boy turned towards the goblin, "I would like two copies of the Will to be made for Mr. Greengrass and myself. Also could we have a record of all transactions since the date of my parent's death for my trust vault and House Potter's vault."

The old goblin stood up slowly then glanced towards the boy and solicitor, "It shall be done. Do you wish to see the vaults now?"

The boy offered a nod towards the aged goblin in agreement then followed the creature from the room to find out what was in store next for him.

_Author note: I just wanted to say thank you for all of the reviews and reader so far. I was very surprised that people liked it so much after just a chapter really of writing. I tried to answer as many reviews as possible and I look forward to more ideas. I expect year three to be slightly different than normal for Harry and the boy will grow very different then the Harry in the normal books. Hopefully he is coming off as slightly more mature but still not completely sure of himself. I am looking for a Beta if anyone wishes to do it for the story. I should have another chapter up this week on Wednesday or Thursday. Thank you again for reading it and I hope that everyone likes it so far. _

_PS Golge is Turkish for Shadow_


	4. Gringotts Family Vaults

I want to first thank my new Beta Winged Seer Wolf for the assistance on the chapter! I really appreciate their help already and I am very lucky to have them working on our story! I hope you all enjoy the chapter, it is a building chapter instead of an action one but I think it has some interesting subplots. There should be around 4 more chapters for the Summer left before year 3 starts. As always please let me know your thoughts good or bad for the story in reviews.

Note: Please note I still don't own Harry potter.

The three humans followed the goblin to a large cavern. Grrack turned back with a vicious smile then got into a strange railed cart, almost like an old mine car that appeared to have been changed for fast travel. Once all three were in the cart the goblin slammed the lever forward and they burst off like a gunshot.

Harry leaned back and enjoyed the brisk air as it flew by him making him feel like he was on his nimbus 2000 streaking through the sky. The journey was exhilarating to the boy as this was the closest he had ever gotten in his young life to an amusement park. Unfortunately for Harry, the trip ended too fast as Grrack slammed on the brakes almost causing Tonks to fall out of her seat.

The boy looked up and noticed that they were before vault 687, his trust vault. Harry leapt free of the cart to follow the goblin up to the door. All Harry needed from his vault was some coins to use over the summer. He had plans to change his clothing, remove the Dursley stench, and acquire some components and new books to start his studies. Once the locking mechanism was done, Harry walked in with a small pouch that had an expansion enchantment along with security and feather-light enchantments. He quickly started to scoop up piles of the coins into the pouch filling it as quickly as possible. Then Harry turned and walked back towards the others on the cart.

The second part of the journey was far too quickly again for Harry's tastes. It seemed as soon as they had got back onto the cart they were standing before the vault with his parent's processions. Harry stood up in the cart just watching the doorway for a time. The pit of his stomach was rolling about with back flips of concern as he watched Grrack move towards the doorway. As much as Harry wanted to go forward he felt frozen in place watching as time passed slowly. Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and a squeeze from Mr. Greengrass that finally jolted him back to reality. Together they got off of the cart and walked towards the vault.

Grrack drew his fingertip down the center of the doorway as the locks started to slide open one by one before he allowed the two humans to enter. The family storage vault was about the same size as his trust vault. The far back was stacked to the ceiling with furniture of different ages and conditions. Some of them were still blackened from an explosion that had made his former scar. The right side of the room was filled with books and piles of sealed boxes stacked up to the ceiling in rows. The left side held two frames that seemed to be covered up under sheets.

Harry stood there for a time as he felt the wetness on his cheeks as he looked over the ruins of his parent's life. Slowly the boy took a deep breath then let it out, glancing back at the entrance he saw Mr. Greengrass standing there. The man smiled at the boy and Harry returned it, "Sir this might take a while if you want to go back. I need to go to the last vault by myself anyways."

Cyrus Greengrass smiled at the child before him, wishing he could do more to help the poor boy. He could see the pain etched on the child's face and swore that he would never let his daughters go through something like this. He nodded his head then spoke firmly, "I will do that Harry, but if you need me. I will be there for your Harry."

"Thank you Mr. Greengrass," Harry spoke up before he turned back to walk over towards the right side of the room. He picked up a few books seeing that they old class books from Hogwarts, along with a few that seemed to be from advanced studies.

Harry never had known that his parents did any advanced studies after Hogwarts but it seemed some were from transfiguration and others from Charms. He placed them back down after glancing through them making a mental note to review them later on during the summer. Instead the boy turned his glowing green eyes towards the stacks of boxes.

Harry reached up and pulled down the first large box. He placed it onto the ground then opened it up, inside seeing piles of clothing neatly folded up. He slowly reached into the box then pulled out a dress. The dress was a white summer dress that seemed to be fit for a woman with a slender waist. The boy stood there looking at the dress then raised it up to his face as tears spilled down his cheeks. He could smell the scent of lavender on the dress. Harry couldn't help but wonder if this was the smell of his mother's perfume? He held the dress close wishing to feel the warmth from his parents. Harry collapsed to the ground for a good hour crying to him over what he had lost and for what he never got to know.

An hour later, Harry placed the dress back into the box and stood up to start searching once more. He started to go through the other boxes determined to find every scrap and detail that he could of his family. A few of his father's clothing items, most of which were too big, he placed the side. Harry also found a black leather jacket that had the word prongs written on the back in Ancient Greek. Part of Harry couldn't help but wonder when he learned the word in Ancient Greek but that was quickly dismissed. He started to make a small pile of things he would find a way to keep near him, perhaps in a larger trunk for the future.

Harry kept searching for items of interest for a few hours. While going through the boxes the boy found one that contained a chest of jewelry that his mother must have worn. He carefully pulled the box out and placed it into the growing pile. He could share it someday with someone special, he was certain that his mother would want that. Under the jewelry box Harry noticed two small books, and a small rectangular shaped sealed box. He reached down and pulled them out feeling each to be covered in green dragon skin.

Harry slowly opened the green dragon skin book and saw it was a journal of his mother. The first entry was listed as a month prior to her start at Hogwarts. Harry sat there and started to read it over, skimming parts as quickly as he could to get more. He was a thirsty man stuck in the middle of the desert and this book was his last can of water. He felt the need to know and learn more.

Harry looked back down at the diary so far he had read the basics of Lily Evans life. He had read where she had found out she was a witch. The book talked about her best friend Severus and their hope to become sorted into the same House at Hogwarts. It turned out that Severus Snape actually was the first person to tell her that she was a witch. It also appeared that she knew she was adopted as Aunt Petunia had taken every opportunity to tell her that she was. Reading the diary Harry started to get a perspective for the life of his mother and a new perspective on Professor Snape. He forgot the time unfortunately while this was going on till he heard the clearing of a throat from outside.

The rough voice of the goblin calls out, "Mr. Potter, you have been in there three hours. Remember time is money."

Harry cleared his throat then called out. "I will not be much longer Grrack. You may charge the House Potter account for the time of your services."

The same voice as before called into the vault, "Agreed Mr. Potter."

Harry looked back down at the book carefully then slowly flipped it to the last page. The final page was dated by the book in the top right hand corner October 31, 1981. It was written in scratched quick handwriting that showed urgency unlike Lily's normal hand. The writing was drawn in a crimson pen that took Harry a moment to realize it was blood.

_Harry_

_I know it will never make up or not being there but know that your father and I love you my dear. I hope and pray I am wrong, but Voldemort is here. The wards are falling and the portkeys are blocked. He found us. Peter broke the secret and told him. Take the box to Sev. I placed a blood…._

The writing stopped as if she ended in the middle of the sentence. For the second time that day Harry felt tears stared to squeeze free. Part of him wondered if there was any water left in his body at this point. A sad chuckle broke from his chest as he closed the journal holding it tightly to his side. After a time the tears ended from the laugh which turned to a scream of rage. At what had been taken from him.

Harry felt tired and exhausted, he felt pushed to the edge emotionally after the past few months. First, the whole school including many of his friends seemed to turn against him believed he was some sort of killer, next he was almost killed in cold blood. Now here he was looking through the belongings of his parents realizing what he truly lost. Harry determined no more tears, no more pity, no more crying. He was tired of being a fool, tired of being a patsy. He would find his own want to make his destiny and learn whom he truly was.

Harry glanced down at the journals picking them up with the jacket with a small smile. He may be lost but he had found a guide for the path to walk, he wasn't unsure anymore whom he was. It was a few hours all together between the shy little boy entering the cavern vault and the young man with a different heart exiting it.

After Harry left the vault he scanned the darkness to see the cart waiting for him. Seated up front was a frustrated Grrack, the goblin appeared to be glaring at Harry for making him wait so long. In the back seat instead of Mr. Greengrass the boy spotted Tonks. She was leaning back cleaning her nails looking calm as possible, yet the boy could see from the raised eyebrow towards Harry she was in a rather poor mood.

The young woman looked up from her nails as she studied Harry. When Tonks got a good view of his red eyes she bit her lip letting out a sigh. "Harry, are you alright?"

Harry just looked at her for the question raising his right eyebrow. It seemed to him a silly question. He had just left the vault of his dead parents of course he was not alright. Well he was better than he thought he would be. He realized lashing out at an Auror, a young beautiful one, was most likely not the best idea so he shrugged his shoulders and pasted on his best fake smile, "I am fine Ms. Tonks."

The green eyed boy settled into his seat in the cart, with a motion from Grrack the trio was off to the last vault. This time the trip down the railway took far longer to reach then the previous two combined. They actually sped up even faster, from the corner of his eye he noticed that Tonks hair had turned a distinct green one might associate with motion sickness. They swooped past later and larger vaults, some of them even had a dragon outside. Finally, after a good fifteen minutes then slowed to a stop before a large cavern area. The Golge vault had a large door that was carved out of the ten foot tall twin blocks of the blackest obsidian. At the side of vault doors stood two obsidian giant statues each of masked men wearing cloaks that covered the statures from head to foot. Only the eyes of each statue were visible and they seemed to be carved out of rubies the size of Harry's head.

Harry got up to walk towards the doorway noticing that the goblin did not stand up this time. He glanced back with a frown before Grrack spoke up, "Mr. Potter only you can open the vault. All of the ancient House vaults contain this requirement. Simply cut your hand and place it against the stone. If it accepts you then the door will open. If not…" The goblin fell silent as he just grinned darkly at the boy.

For a brief moment Harry's Slytherin side had to wonder if perhaps the goblin had it out for him. But he shook off the idea as too many would know that he had disappeared here in Gringotts for that to be plausible. He took out a small pocket knife and made a tiny incision along his right palm. The boy watched the crimson flow well up from his hand for a moment wondering if he was destined to always be bleeding. Harry shook off the thoughts then reached up to place his palm against the center of the doorway.

There was an echoing groan in the cavern as the two obsidian statues turned golems shifted their bodies towards Harry. For a second the boy for a shiver down his spin as the glowing red rubies watched him. He felt a touch of magic up and down his body as if they were scanning him to determine if he was worthy. The single though ran through his head that if he was found lacking at least it would be quick! The silence felt deafening to Harry before the large twin black doors disappeared into a smoky mist that sent a shiver down his body. The Statues seemed to rumble in twin voices that Harry could not understand but felt in his bones the need to enter. "**Giris**"

Harry took a deep breath then slowly stepped forward into the darkness and unknown. He was surprised as soon as he stepped through the barrier to find the obsidian walls behind him returned. The mist was gone and there was a faint green light filling the chamber from moss growing above the large chamber. His emerald eyes scanned the room but found it contained a single table. On the tabletop was a pair of large thick books and a dagger. The books appeared to be ancient even from a distance he could see the yellowing of pages and dried husks on the cover that once appeared to be basilisk skin. The dagger at their side seemed to flicker in the torchlight with crimson runes carved into the blade.

Harry stepped closer to the dagger and gently picked it up in his left hand. The dagger flickered in the torchlight; shadows seemed to cling to the dagger causing it to disappear in his hand if he did not look directly at it. The dagger felt light as a feather to the boy as he moved it around his left hand. After a moment Harry switched the blade to his right hand.

The moment Harry switched the dagger to his right hand the hilt touched to the remains of the blood on his palm. The Harry felt warmth start to run over his body pulling on the magic from his core. It felt as if some force was rapidly draining on his core, squeezing the magic from his body. He panicked and tried to drop the blade but it was too late, a crimson glow was burning from the dagger starting to fill up the whole cavern. That glow rushed up his hand and arm to his shoulder. Chasing the bright crimson glow was pain, and aches as if every muscle in Harry's body tried to spasm and rip at the same time. The pain was too much and the boy blacked out falling to the ground at the feet of the table.

He was uncertain how long he stayed there when he awoke, it could have been five minutes or five hours. Harry looked down and saw that the dagger was not gone replaced by an obsidian ring with a blood red symbol carved on the top that he knew instinctively was for House Golge. The sigil looked to be an upside down V with a half-moon under it that appeared to be drawn in blood red. The outside of the ring was etched in tiny blood red runes carved into the surface.

Harry finished his inspection of the ring and reached up to rub his forehead stopping has his hand pressed against his chin. He felt surprise rush through his as he had hair on his chin! He ran his hands along his chin to find fresh stubble grown into a small goatee. Shocked he reached up to touch the hair on his head not finding the short scruffy hair but instead long falling down locks that touched almost to his shoulders. Harry blinked in surprise pulling some of his hair around before his eyes, "Shit."

Harry slowly stood back up feeling a little unbalanced as he did then leaned over the table towards the pair of books. The pair of books were marked in a language he had not seen before. Harry stared at it for a few moments before his eyes seemed to sort out the letters. The first book title was "**The Path of Truth**." The second book was titled "**The Clan of Golge**."

Harry slowly reached out to open the Path of Truth book. He found that it was divided into sections on the first page. The sections were the Path of Wisdom, Path of Battle, Path of the Mind, Path of Blood. He let out a smirk to himself, "I wonder if they have a path to get rid of this headache."

He flipped a few pages through the Path of Wisdom and it seemed to tell of the code and philosophy of House Golge. The Path of Battle was all about different spells to be used and when to use them. He found an array of spells listed for offensive and defensive use, some elemental spells, and a few things he was sure the ministry would consider Dark. He tried to flip to the spells themselves but found only a few of the assigned pages filled out. The only spells he could find were basics of the forms for the different disciplines. It was as if the book felt he was not ready for the knowledge and would not provide it to him. He let a smirk touch his lips, "It is a good thing I plan to be different this year, to apply and learn."

Harry flipped to the Path of the mind next. He found that it talked of how to use magic without vocalizing and movements when necessary. In addition it seemed to explain ways to train the mind to protect your secrets. Harry figured it might be useful even though he doubted anyone would really want to see what was in the mind of a thirteen year old.

The final segment of the book was the Path of Blood. This area spoke about numerous rituals for everything from blood wards, seasonal rituals, how to place or remove blood curses and even virginity rituals. Harry was not certain that the Ministry would be less than pleased to see this book. He frowned to himself thinking that he had an Auror outside waiting for him, he would not like her to find out about it. Harry closed the book to put it down thinking he would store it for now then come to retrieve it later. When his ring touched to the book it seemed to dissolve into darkness. A few seconds later he saw that the darkness was gone and instead a red rune on the right of his new ring appeared.

The young man took out the book for the Clan of Golge next and started to flip through it. The book seemed to be about the history of the clan. The language it was written in seemed to change through time periods from Ancient Greek to Latin to Arabic to Turkish. In the back of the book was a chart that traced down the ancestry of the family through the ages from four hundred BC till the modern day. He even saw his own name listed in the chart. The boy closed the book and tried to touch it to the ring. At first nothing happened then he concentrated on the book thinking storage and it too disappeared into shadow to become a rune.

Harry looked around the chamber seeing that it was completely empty. So he turned and walked outside of the vault. Unfortunately walking seemed to have betrayed him as he almost tripped a few times as he tried to leave the chamber.

Once the young man was outside of the vault Tonks perked up and stared at the boy in surprise. Her eyes flickered from blue to green to red as her hair matched the transition. The surprise was clearly evident on her face as she broke the stunned silence, "Harry, what happened to you?"

Harry looked at the young woman in surprise, "What do you mean Tonks?"

Tonks pulled her wand out and flicked at the ground next to Harry. Out of the ground a conjuration of a full length mirror rose from the floor showing Harry to himself. The mirror betrayed that Harry had grown massively since he entered the chamber. He stood around five foot seven inches tall now when before he was closer to four foot eight inches. His body had filled out with wiry muscle all over his frame. His hair had grown from short and scattered over his head to now filling out with full long locks that fell to the shoulders. His chin was chiseled with a small goatee and he had a scruffy exterior almost making a five o'clock shadow along his cheeks. To put it simply he appeared to be a twelve year old in the body of a sixteen year old, "What the Fuck?"

Tonks slowly climbed from the rail cart to stand looking up and down Harry with a frown, "I don't know what happened in there Harry but family magic is powerful and always does things for a reason. I haven't ever seen anything like this before though. The important question is are you still you?"

Harry frowned at the mirror and her question then turned to look at her with his killing curse green eyes, "I feel like I am me."

As he spoke up he couldn't help but notice his voice seemed to have changed from the crackling of puberty to a deeper tone. He turned back to looking at the mirror studying himself in wonder. He gave a shake of the head, he shouldn't be surprised it seemed he was always fate's bitch for the world of the strange. Why not go through express puberty then too? At least he wouldn't have to go through "The Talk" as Ron told him he had to do with Percy.

Tonks raised an eyebrow as she watched Harry carefully with a frown. She could see his hair started to shorten before her eyes. His eyes seemed to decrease and grow a few inches intermittently. A small smile spread over her lips, this would be an interesting summer indeed. "Remember always what is outside doesn't make us whom we are. As long as you are the same inside is what matters Harry."

Harry frowned at the mirror as he lost his concentration from her words. Harry let out a sigh and gave her a small smile which turned into a grin as he looked down slightly towards her, "Looks like I am almost taller then you now Tonks."

Tonks smirked at the younger teen, "Judge me by my size now do you? Hmm?"

Right after the words were spoken Tonks concentrated and grew taller before the eyes of the boy. A smile crossed her lips as she became close to sixe foot tall with her chest at his eye level. This fact was that was not missed by Harry. Tonks leaned forward towards the boy bot realizing the view she gave as she spoke up, "Remember Harry some of us can control our size."

The boy looked down the Auror's blouse then smiled up at her, "Indeed, I see you control your size well."

Tonks realized where his eyes were located and smirked as she shrunk herself back down to normal. The young woman smiled at the boy then pointed at the cart, "Come, get into the cart so we can get you some new clothing."

Harry looked down at his shirt that was far too tightly and his pants that were ready to rip at the seams, not to mention up to his mid calves. Then he leapt into the cart with a cheeky smile, "Here I thought tight pants were all the rage."

The boy received a swat on the back of the head as Tonks joined him in the cart then the shot off to Diagon Alley.


	5. Summer Days

**The Shadow of the Wizarding World**

**By: Jamnaz79**

**Beta: Winged Seer Wolf **

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

_Note: I do not own Harry Potter for the book, movies, etc etc etc. I could say that if I did own Harry Potter that I would have found a way for the tri-wizard tourney to contain more schools. It seems silly that there are only three wizard schools in all of Europe._

**_-SotWW-_**

Albus Percival Brian Dumbledore sat in his office leaning back into his old chair to watch a group of tiny silver artifacts sitting on his far wall. The artifacts normally spun together in a random patterns to tell the aged wizard the situation regarding one particular boy of interest. They had been setup ten years before when events unfolded that made Harry James Potter into the boy-who-lived. While Albus could not be there with the boy daily or raise him, heaven forbid that he was far too old! He did care what happened and found the boy important to his plans. Hence the old wizard was staring at the wall, since all of the artifacts at once had stopped moving.

Each of the five different artifacts were keyed the magical core of young Mister Potter. One was keyed to the wards that were strung through Harry's and his own Magical Core to provide protection to the boy. A second was placed to determine if the location of the boy, it would be able project the address of wherever the boy might go unless he was behind extremely powerful wards. The third artifact would display the relative strength of the boy's core growth. It could determine how powerful the young wizard was and project his learning and where it might become more powerful. The fourth determined the leanings of the heart, or so he believed, it helped to show if Harry was on the right path to a proper life as a light wizard. The final one was the most important as it showed that Harry was alive and living. So of course there was some consternation when all of these artifacts at once stopped and went silent.

In fact Dumbledore had just stood up about to go check on the devices as surely there was a mistake that they had somehow malfunctioned when three of the devices exploded shattering the shelf, dumping the rest of the contents to the floor and turning to silver slag. Luckily for Albus he was the Supreme Wizard of his age and was able to weave a quick wandless, silent spell of protection for him. Yet, he was not so lucky for his belongings in his chambers.

It had taken the aged wizard an hour to put back together the two artifacts that had not exploded. The artifact linked to young Harry's magical core health glowed bright as the noon sun when it was turned back on. It caused even his phoenix familiar to squawk in anger as the light disturbed it's nap, funny enough it had slept through the explosion. Albus took this to be wonderful news since this meant that Harry was fine magically and actually surprisingly out of the blue he had become extremely powerfully charged to his core.

The second artifact was the health tracer which now spun putting off a warm light. Albus could tell this meant that Harry was better now physically and emotionally then he had been ever before. Of course the fact that most likely he was partly responsible for the past trauma's and home life did bother the Leader of the Light. He knew that for the Greater Good was a great slogan and he wanted to always do what was best for the masses, but even to him it could still hurt the sacrifices that he had forced on young Harry.

It had been a trying few weeks since the end of the term for the Headmaster. He had time to think and think over his mistakes, which were numerous since he had such a long life. He knew he had made a horrible mistake now by putting the boy with that terrible excuse for people and a muggle family. He was quite certain if his sister were able to come back from the dead she would slap him for his mistake. He should have listened to Minerva when she mentioned the type of people that they were. Perhaps he could have placed the boy to be raised with the Weasley or Longbottom family or even raised by a different light wizard family.

The problem had been that the Longbottom's were a target too and just a day after the attack on the Potters if he had placed him there he most likely would have been killed when Frank and Alice were harmed. The Wizengamot would never have allowed Remus Lupin to take the boy, not to mention that the man became a drunkard and disappeared unable to reached until a few days ago. Perhaps bringing him in to become the teacher of the Dark Arts this year might help young Harry calm down and adjust, and be a good influence on the boy. Still, the question remained whom could he have trusted with the most important boy in the world. If you cannot trust your own family who can you trust?

Albus let out a sigh at the thoughts running through his head, he glanced over towards his phoenix familiar, "Do you think I will be able to get the boy to forgive?"

The bird seemed to bow its proud head towards the Headmaster before letting out a squawk. Albus gave the magical bird a smile the nodded his head, "I hope you are right Fawkes. I will give him some time to calm down then speak with him. Harry has the ability to forgive in his heart, I am sure I can make him understand that what I did was for the best for him."

The old man took out a quill and parchment and started to write a letter to the boy.

**-SotWW-**

It had been a few weeks since classes had let out. At the moment Harry was living in the London Flat that belonged to House Potter. His fate for who had the right to raise him was in dispute in the Ministry between the Diggory and Longbottom families. Not to mention more than a few families tried to make a claim to have the right to adopt the Boy-who-lived. A few of those seemed to have eager mothers that might play matchmaker, one most likely being Ms. Weasley.

Harry though was very happy in his flat for the time being. It was on a tenth floor condo located in downtown London with a beautiful view of the Thames River. The flat had four bedrooms and three bathrooms, a large sized kitchen with an open feel to the place. The place had been cleaned to a spotless shine by the happy House Elf Dobby.

The House elf had returned a week ago to Harry notifying him that he had this residence ready to live in. While it appeared that the Manor was not able to be reached till his age of majority, and would need exhaustive repairs that could only be afforded with his inheritance, Harry still had the right to live in the flat here or in Paris. Harry had already started to learn French, the chance to visit another country excited the boy!

Dobby's mission had been successful in a typical Dobby way. Harry first entered the flat to find an entire room stacked floor to ceiling filled with Potter family items and artifacts. What was worse was that each of the boxes were magically filled so there was literately enough heirlooms, books, clothing and random junk to last Harry all Summer to sort through. But, that had been resolved from a few orders from the boy which Dobby returned most of the items to the storage in Gringotts.

Dobby had acquired two paintings that were kept, along with numerous family histories and journals for the Potter family that Harry found interesting. These new books and portraits lined the walls of the library which was formally the fourth guest bedroom. Dobby had also found a tapestry which magically showed all of the Potter family relatives that carried up to first cousins. Unfortunately it appeared there was only Harry left on the chart, it was still a great resource to track in the future.

The two paintings that Dobby had found were of Theodore Potter, a former Headmaster of Hogwarts that lived from 1598 till 1621. According to one of the family books he was part of House Ravenclaw and grew in renown as a great scholar at the time and helped to invent the levitation charm! Ironic that the first magical spell that Harry had cast willingly with a wand was actually invented by one of his ancestors! The second portrait that was found was of Dorea Potter nee Black. Lady Potter was the wife of Charlus Potter, Harry's grandfather. He was excited for the chance to talk to her and connect to his own real blood family. Unfortunately both paintings had been asleep since they had been found. According to his roommates that would eventually wake up and be able to chat with him before the end of the Summer.

Harry figured that his next task for the dedicated House Elf would be to investigate his godfather Sirius Black, a known convict, and then perhaps he would set the elf over the school year to looking into details of the past of his mother's mysterious family. So far all Harry had been able to determine was that her House name was Turkish for Shadow. The question was why?

One of the guest bedrooms was occupied by Tonks, whom had become the unofficial guardian of the boy. Rather ironic that her mother Andromeda Tonks was one of the families trying to adopt Harry to raise him as well. Kingsley stopped by daily just to check on Harry but had assigned Nymphadora to the boy full time. Or at least till it was decided whom would be in charge of the care of Harry.

The residence was warded, as heavily as possible for a muggle condo could be, for the time being. But the ministry was taking no chances that any trouble could occur to Harry while he was under their protection. He had even been able to get Kingsley to submit and get approved a request to allow him to practice magic in the apartment for the time being. It was done under the decision that was in his best interest for "safety" due to recent events.

Harry's roommate Tonks had to do a daily regime work out for her Auror training, even on assignment it was expected for her not to slack off. So luckily for the boy he had been drafted into the same routine. The workout included a brisk run at the break of dawn, a series of physical exercises, weight training, hand to hand combat and finally meditation. She had "invited" Harry to join right away into these activities and to her surprise Harry had been happy to join. It could have had something to do with Tonks wearing a tight top, yoga pants during the work out and the boy being a thirteen year old with high hormones but Tonks had instead spun it that he looked up to her. In either case the important part was Harry was keeping up his new body and even working to improve it.

The part of the training the peeked Harry's interest the most was the meditation training. Tonks mentioned this was useful for learning to feel your magical core. Harry remembered the conversation with Tonks about it a few days ago.

Harry was seated on the couch enjoying a cup of tea with his mother's journal open in his lap. He had been reading up on her life from start to end. He craved to know every detail he could possible know of his mother and father. Unfortunately this morning he had not been able to concentrate to read anything so far from the book.

The reason of Harry's distraction was off to the right; Tonks sat on a blanket going through stretches. She was starting up some new type of eastern routine for physical training called Yoga. It seemed to involve stretching the body in random positions that to a guy might be rather painful, but to the metamorphic woman, it was rather easy. Not that Harry would ever complain, after all the way she bent her body was just too lovely a distraction. He couldn't help but wonder if some of the girls at Hogwarts could bend like that! Most girls at Hogwarts didn't have a matured body like this.

Harry sipped his tea as he watched Tonks lean her body forward in a push up position then drop her large chest to the ground before she thrust her firm backside into the air. The boy prayed to god in thanks to whatever muggle invented the spandex yoga pants. He watched the eighteen year old drop her ass back down to the ground only to push her arms upwards thrusting her chest, trapped in a sports bra, up as her hair whipped into the air. Harry couldn't help but think how much better this summer was then the Dursley Summers were, besides the almost dying part.

The boy's moment of enjoyment was interrupted as he heard Tonks speak up, "If you are going to stare Harry, you might as well join me. It will make you loose and relaxed."

Harry's cheeks turned crimson at being obviously caught but he swallowed his back while speaking, "I think I am loose and relaxed up here Tonks. I will do a bit of stretching before this new exercise you want to try today. What is it by the way?"

The woman sat down and crossed her legs before herself meeting Harry's emerald eyes with her own dark gaze. She let out a sigh and frowned, "I have two new exercises we will be implementing. First, daily we are going to start a dodging program for each of us. What we will do is one of us will dodge the other casting spells at them for a time period I determine. Nothing too serious, but it is good training as the first rule of defending in a duel is not to get hit."

Harry smiled at her and nodded his head accepting, "That sounds interesting to try out. But, painful."

The older teen's hair flashed from pink to black as she raised an eyebrow, "I am hurt Harry. Don't trust me to not hurt you? Or are you afraid nobody will be there to kiss your boo-boo's better."

The boy smirked at her, "I have you here Tonks."

The girl rolled her eyes at the younger boy, "Sorry, too young for my taste new body or not. Either way, this training will be done for an hour a day."

Harry grimaced at the idea of an hour a day having to dodge Tonks shooting jinxes and curses at him. Then let out a sigh, "Very well. What is the other conversation?"

The hair of the older teen flickered again from black to pink to blonde as she smiled at Harry warmly, "Harry, you know that I am a metamorphmagus correct?"

She paused but after seeing the nod of understanding from Harry she continued, "I have the ability to change my appearance and body in any way I can desire. It is a very useful skill to blend in to a crowd to get away from someone or follow someone."

Harry watched as the arms of the woman became muscular to skinny, her eyes flickered from bright red to matching his emerald green to become her normal black. She smiled at the boy, "It is useful to be able to blend in, to change as needed for an assignment. Harry, I could pretend to be anyone."

To make her point the features of woman shifted before his very eyes to become a mirror image of himself. The only way to tell the difference was the higher pitched and sultry voice speaking, "I can even become someone else if needed."

Harry looked her up and down and winks, "I am one damn sexy man."

The woman rolled her eyes and turned back to her normal pink haired self, "We are the perfect spies, assassins, and even bodyguards. That is why I am joining the Aurors."

Harry smiled and nodded towards the woman in understanding. A bit of a frown brushed his lips, "Tonks, do you ever get confused on what is the real you? Your real body?"

A chuckle came from the lips of the woman as she smiled, "No Harry. I always know my real form. I can hide it or change it but I can always revert back to whom I really am."

The dark haired boy raised an eyebrow as he spoke up, "Can I see?"

Tonks grinned teasingly, "Can you?"

The woman leaned forward and Harry got another lovely view down the sports bra of the girl. She rolled her eyes as she caught his eyes looking. Tonks let out a sigh. She couldn't help but wonder about the age of the boy before her. Some days he seemed so distant and quiet as a young child with no experience to the world around him. But other days like this he was a wonderful tease, a boy that seemed mentally and physically far older then thirteen. The question resounded in the mind of the young woman, who was the real Harry Potter? And did Harry Potter even know anymore? The thoughts were put on the backburner as she leaned back with a smile and tease to her younger friend, "If you were older you might, But, for now no you will not get to see."

Harry raised an eyebrow and tossed her his best smile, "Is it too personal to see the real form of you?"

Tonks frowned as a small tick came over her forehead, "Yes Harry, when I was younger I was often teased so I do not like others to see me. The real me is very personal."

Harry smiled sadly towards Tonks as she could swear his eyes sparkled in the light, "I understand. I look forward to the day that I will get to spent time with the real Tonks."

She met the gaze of Harry with her own smile before she spoke up, "Not to change the subject but my real reason for bringing this up was that you have some metamorphmagus abilities. I doubt you can do the extremes that I can do but with training you may be able to cultivate your talent. I am sure there have been times you wanted to disappear from sight?"

The boy nodded his head as he thought about first year and all of the whispers and stares, then second year the pranks, attacks and whispers about him, "Yes I can definitely say it is nice to sometimes not be recognized."

Harry smiled brightly at the woman, "So you will train me?"

The boy saw her give a nod of accent before he stood up and walked over to kneel before the teenager giving her a big smile, "Then I am in your hands to mold how you like Teacher."

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**Thank you again to my wonderful Beta Winged Seer Wolf! I have to say it is amazing that we have this many favorites and follows already! In a week's time breaking 100 of each is amazing, I never expected that. Thank you so very much! I am glad that people like the story so far. My only hope is that I can keep you all entertained. **

**Please as always toss me some feedback for what you like and dislike. There should only been a couple of more chapters for Summer before we start up with School. Next chapter is the Case of Harry James Potter vs. Lord Lucius Malfoy.**


	6. The Trial of Lucius Malfoy

**The Shadow of the Wizarding World**

**By: Jamnaz79**

**Beta: Winged Seer Wolf **

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

_Note: I do not own Harry Potter for the book, movies, etc etc etc. But, I wouldn't trade my life for it as I am a lucky man nevertheless with a wonderful wife. _

_**-SotWW-**_

It was the beginning of July and today was the day that the trial of Lord Lucius Malfoy was to take place. Harry had a busy Summer up to this point, but that was not surprising considering the start of it. He did manage to continue his training with Tonks on becoming a Metamorphmagus, work on his athletic build, dodge ability, complete his Summer homework, pick classes for next year which included Runes and Arithmancy, and exchange a few letters with the Headmaster.

It seemed to Harry that the Headmaster was extremely concerned for him. He stated in the letters point blank that he was wrong for placing him with his relatives and told the reasons why he chose to place Harry with them for his protection. While Harry completely disagreed that he might be safer with the Dursleys, hell they weren't even his blood relatives, he did partly understand the stated reasons for Dumbledore's choice. If nothing else, he now had written proof that the Chief Warlock had circumvented his father's last Will and Testament, which could become nice blackmail material someday. The pair would speak face to face after the trial, and Harry still had more than a few questions.

Harry had also managed to meet the Diggory family, Madam Longbottom, and the Tonks family. He was informed that after the trial was decided he would need to choose where he felt most comfortable. Due to his unique situation and age, Madam Marshbanks and Madam Bones declared that Harry would be able to choose his future adoptive family to live with till he became a full legal adult. Harry, liked all three families. Each of the families had distinct advantages for Harry to choose them.

The Longbottom family had the advantage that they were always House Potter allies. Both of the Houses were Ancient and Noble Houses and had a formal alliance dating back six centuries. The Houses had worked together ever since the Longbottom family came with the Norse invaders to England. In addition, Harry would get to have a brother for the last few years with Neville and he was already friends with the boy from school. The disadvantage, while Neville had a few Uncles and Aunts still alive he would live with Madam Longbottom whom came off as a stern lady. A smart, determined, intelligent woman, but a woman driven for the best for her family and Harry was concerned if her demeanor towards Neville might transfer to him too.

The Diggory family was a smaller Noble House. Amos and his wife Anne had one son named Cedric, whom was a Hufflepuff a few years older than Harry. They were bright and friendly and their House too had been allies of House Potter for centuries. The Diggory family were actually Liegeman at one time to the Potter Barony hundreds of years ago and always kept their Knighthood in their realm. They actually lived near Potter Manor. Harry couldn't find any downsides when he met them, they seemed extremely friendly and they had been friends of his parents when in school and work with the Ministry.

The other choices were the Tonks family and supposedly the Weasley Family both wanted him. The Weasley's were currently off in Egypt and Romania on some tour that they had won so they never got a chance to make a formal bid for his fosterage. Supposedly Dumbledore put in their name as a recommendation so Harry was not too sure about that. The Tonks family also was put in by Dumbledore even though he supposedly seemed less happy with the idea. The possible idea of living with Nym all the time pleases Harry immensely but he wasn't sure. Anything that Dumbledore supported at the moment Harry couldn't help but feel a little bit of concern over in his heart.

This was the concerns of the day for Harry as he was rushed through the fireplace foo at the side of Kingsley and Tonks to the Ministry of Magic. He was taken not through the normal front entrance in the atrium but instead through a private floo to the office of Madam Banks since he was a star witness in today's case.

Harry was flung from the flames with a slight stumble and covered in dust from the fire pit. He coughed as he looked around noticing that the room was Spartan in style with a pair of chairs for visitors and a pair of filled bookshelves, a pair of cabinets for files and one desk with a sturdy chair. Current filling the chairs were Cyrus Greengrass and Amelia Bones, both smiling towards Harry. Or a determined fierce look that might be a smile at least was on the face of Amelia.

As always getting spit out of a fireplace headfirst was never a pleasant experience. But, Harry was picked up a moment later by Cyrus Greengrass whom used a quick scourify to clean off the new dress robes of the boy. He gave the boy a quick smile as he helped him up, "Harry I hope you are doing well?"

Harry nodded his head as he saw in from the corner of his eye Tonks stumble out of the fireplace into the room. The quick through ran through his head at least he was not the only person that was clumsy with magical travel. "I am doing very well Mr. Greengrass. I hope everything has gone as planned?"

"Indeed, I expect things to go rather poorly for the Malfoy Household." A vicious grin split the man's face and an eager glint in the eyes truly showed the Slytherin side of Mr. Greengrass. After all what greater ambition could be met then to become the solicitor that took down a powerful Ancient Household.

Harry smiled towards the man then looked back towards Director Bones, "Thank you for allowing us to come to the Ministry through your private floo. I am glad to escape the press at least till afterwards."

Amelia returned the smile to the boy with a nod, "It is not a problem Mr. Potter. I see the reports of your improvement in health by my Aurors were not exaggerated Mr. Potter. It is good to see you are well."

Harry bowed his head politely at the compliment with a smile, "Thank you for allowing me to tutor from them over the Summer. I need to recommend them to Headmaster Dumbledore for the Defense against Dark Arts post. Perhaps then we will have a bit of good teaching for once in school."

Tonks snorted at the comment," Thanks a lot Harry. I see how it is you want Kingsley and myself killed off. Since every dark arts teacher for thirty years goes insane or dies off after taking that post. You wont see my butt anywhere around there."

Harry raised an eyebrow at her comment mentally thinking it was a shame not to see that cute backside around Hogwarts!

Amelia cleared her throat before looking over the individuals before her, "I am sorry Mr. Potter that we were not able to determine any information from what was written in your mother's journals in regards to your godfather. I do promise you that the DMLE is looking into the matter about a re-trial for Mr. Black."

Harry politely bowed his head with a frown touching his lips. He had found out unfortunately that his mother's journal was blood warded that the only one that could ever read it was himself or her. It seemed that she had made the journal so that if the ward was removed from it then all of the information inside would be destroyed. Still he had been able to pass the information on that Peter Pettrigrew was the House Potter secret keeper not Sirius Black and hopefully that would be enough to start the chain reaction to get his godfather out of jail.

One thing was for certain if Harry ever found the rat he would kill the bastard! If Sirius had never gone to jail that Harry would have had a family all this time to live with! It was another reason why Mr. and Ms. Tonks wanted to adopt Harry, because once they found out that Sirius was innocent they wanted to try to take care of his godson till he was free too.

The Director closed the file on her desk then stood up picking up the very same files, "We should get down to the trial chambers. You will be questioned before the Wizengamot in regards to Mr. Malfoy. Your memories have already been made available for the court to review for the incidents. In addition, a transcript of our conversation at school has been made available. Finally, I do not expect you will have to take any truth serum. The Malfoy estate tried to enter in a please bargain for the crimes but I believe your solicitor has stated repeatedly that House Potter is not interested, correct?"

Harry firmly nodded his head with a smile as he followed Director Bones from her office, "Our request for judgment is that Mr. Malfoy be given the Dementor's kiss or tossed through the veil."

Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw Nym shiver at the statement he had made, but the boy pretended not to notice. Madam Bones spoke up, "Very well, so shall it be."

Harry followed the Aurors and solicitors through the Department's corridor to the elevator. He quickly grabbed hold of the hanging handle when he noticed everyone else did as well before they were zipped off past different levels of the Ministry. A slight frown crossed his lips as he passed the doors labeled Hall of Mysteries, "Nym, what do folks in the Hall of Mysteries do?"

Tonks gave Harry a knowing look that seemed to say later. This was covered up by a wink with a smile as she spoke up, "They are known as Unspeakable because they take an unbreakable vow on their research not to speak of it outside of their chambers. Some say that they are super secret magical scientists, others say that all of the knowledge of the world is behind those doors. Even the Directors do not know everything about what they look into."

A nod of agreement was given towards Harry from Madam Bones as the doors opened to the floor of the courtroom. The party exited and walked down a long wide hallway that was lined with office doors on each side towards a set of double doors at the end. Harry noticed that each of the doors had different crests of ancient and noble households, he even spotted the Potter crest on one of the doors.

The group passed numerous older looking witches and wizards. Each group glanced at Harry, Director Bones and companions as they walked past. A few offered greetings to either Madam Bones or Mr. Greengrass or even Harry. He just responded with a friendly smile and bow of his head formally and respectfully. It would not do to upset the voters before the trial after all! It had been drilled into his head would be deciding the trial today and he needed to be as personable as possible to them. Lucius had years to try to engender support from these politicians and nobles and many would be in his camp, but those that were neutral were the key to today's match.

Director Bones pushed open the doors to the courtroom to give Harry his first glance at it. The chamber was a large circular chamber with five rows of seats on the left and right sides. A large bench for three chairs stood on the far side of the chamber. The middle bench was raised slightly above the left and right side benches. The symbols on the benches were for the Minister of Magic, Chief Warlock and Director of the DMLE. On each side of the bench stood five chairs larger than the rest of the standard sized seats. These ten chairs were marked with House seals affixed to them for Abbot, Black, Bones, Davis, Longbottom, Ollivander, Parkinson, Potter, Smith, Slughorn.

Harry noticed a balcony above the Minister's side of the chamber that had the House nobility crest of Her Majesty the Queen with a throne and two side chairs.

The young Potter smiled towards the director of the DMLE then turned and walked over to the House Potter chair. Mr. Greengrass followed the boy, as Tonks and Kinsley stayed out of the courtroom. Harry stopped before the chair that held the backside of so many of his ancestors, "I read about these chairs. It is said only the true Lord of the family can sit in them. I assume that is why the only chairs left are the Houses that still exist. The book said there was once twenty of them."

Cyrus studied the boy with a smile; Harry was speaking rather louder then needed on purpose to draw the eyes of many of the lords of the courtroom. Normally something so obvious would not work too much over a crowd as skilled at politics as this group, but the boy had the ability to draw the eye. Now that it seemed Harry was trying to truly get their attention, the question was what for, "Indeed. It is sad to see so many of the Ancient and Noble Households that founded the Ministry be lost."

Harry gave a small wink to Cyrus before stepping up the stairs to his family chair. He caught the surprised look at the face of Cyrus as the man started to step forwards to stop him. But before the older man could do anything Harry ran his fingertips along the right arm of the chair feeling the tingling of the blood ward on the old chair. He smiled brightly feel the ward not resist his touch, he turned and sat down on the chair praying to god that this would not burn him into toast!

To say it was a surprise to many to see a fourteen year old take the seat of a Lord in the Wizengamot chamber was an understatement! Harry could swear that many of the Lords and Ladies of the chamber were waiting for him to be blasted from the chair, but all he felt was a warm tingling sensation filling his blood. Harry closed his emerald eyes as he felt the wave of magic sweep over him then slowly opened them up to slits scanning over the chamber. The slight bit of fear for his actions dimmed and disappeared after he felt the magic stop it's warming effect on him. After all if he had been wrong there was a good chance that he would have been killed outright!

The boy could see that all conversations in the chamber had stopped as people were staring at him. So he figured to play it up. Harry gave a bright smile for those watching him as he leaned back into his grandfather's chair. He continued to speak a bit loudly to Cyrus, "It is a shame Mr. Greengrass that Mr. Malfory wanted me dead so badly. If had succeeded his so would have been able to try to claim this seat. All the more reason for him to want me dead, besides him being Voldemort's servant don't you think?"

Cyrus tried to resist the cringe from the use of the name of the former dead Dark Lord. He could spy numerous others cringe, and knew that his charge had succeeded in acquiring a good sized audience. It seemed young Harry knew that he had every ear listening to them now a. His words would be remembered, as he just planted a third reason for the possible attempted murder of the last heir of an Ancient and Noble House.

Harry started to continue but Albus Dumbledore stepped into the chamber wearing a purple and white polka-dot set of robes. The Chief Warlock always seemed to dress in a stand out fashion, that some might cringe at seeing. The man walked over to stand before Harry and gave the boy a warm smile. At his side walked a large fat old man that had a few white hairs on his head. The Headmaster spoke up at once, "Harry, my boy it is good to see you looking so well."

Harry bowed his head respectfully to the Chief Warlock, despite his current anger still at the man, it would not do to show such thoughts in public after all. He turned to smile brightly towards the man at the side of the Headmaster, "It is a pleasure to see you, and I believe this man is Professor Horace Slughorn?"

The fat man smiled brightly towards the young boy with excitement in his eyes, "You knew me? Of course you must know me through some of my relations? I have taught many of the men and women in these seats right now."

Harry leaned forward with a warm and friendly smile offering his hand to the man, "Of course Lord Slughorn. I know you through the diary of my mother. She wrote how wonderful a Professor you were. You were her favorite you know?

The smile of the chubby man grew even wider at the mention of Lily Potter as he shook Harry's hand happily and furiously. "Indeed! She was a wonderful woman, always she was my favorite. " He leaned towards Harry with a smile, "Just don't tell the Headmaster though."

Harry laughed lightly as he smiled at the man, "It is a shame nobody as qualified and honorable a teacher as you still teaches potions. I must say Professor Snape is a pale shadow in comparison to you my Lord. Perhaps someday if you are ever free I could call on you for some advice for the subject? There are very few true masters in the arts of potions after all."

Albus Dumbledore had been quiet watching the trading of words between the young man and his old professor. A thought for the future of a possible use for Harry to drag back the old man to the school took place. Although it was too late this year, the possibility still to learn some vital information was there. He also took note that the boy was seated in the Lord Potter Chair. That was surprising, although he obviously had grown tremendously over the summer and looked a new young man compared to the skinny thing he remembered, Harry was far too young. Even the olden days would require him to be fourteen years old unless another House Lordship had accepted him.

It was strange to the Chief Warlock to see the former stuttering boy, that avoided attention and fame now be at ease in it. He saw Harry wipe his forehead gently and noticed that the scar was gone, which was truly fascinating, perhaps there was a chance that the boy was not infected a horcrux as he had thought? He would need to speak more with Kingsley about the subject, Tonks had been giving very little information for a young woman living with the boy. He was drawn out of his thoughts as he head Harry's comment on Snape, "Now Harry, just because you have a dislike of Professor Snape does not mean he is not a good potions master."

Harry turned to smile warmly towards the Headmaster and bowed his head respectfully, "I am sure he is a good potions master, most likely a prodigy, but they say those that are gifted at their skill often do not understand the fundamentals to teach it. Still, I understand it is a poor time for the subject."

Harry turned his gaze back towards Slughorn with a smile, "My Lord, I hope that you will remember how fondly my mother was as your student as the trial progresses. It was her sacrifice that was able to save me from the half-blood Dark Lord Tom Riddle Junior known commonly as Voldemort. It was also her love that allowed me to live there the killing curse that Lord Malfoy cast at me."

Slughorn blinked at the words seeming in thought as he mumbled under his breath, "Oh yes, that is true. Very true."

Harry turned his gaze back to the Headmaster as he was still keenly aware of many in the crowd watching the conversation as he spoke with a smile, "I expect this should be an interesting secession today Chief Warlock. Will Madam Bones be presiding since you are a witness to Lord Malfoy's attempt to murder the last Heir of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter?"

Harry was extremely aware of the sight he portrayed seated in his family Lord's Chair as he spoke out warmly and respectfully to the Chief Warlock. He saw out of the corner of his eyes a nod and smile from Cyrus towards him and not for the first time he was thankful to have the man as a guide.

Albus raised an eyebrow at the question, he could see the boy had started to use his mind at least in the political arena. Perhaps if indeed the Horcrux was gone, Harry would not need to be sacrifice. Instead he could modify his plans and turn the boy into a proper champion of the Light. He would want to retire once Tom was fully gone for good, and someone would need to take up his mantle. Why not the boy-who-lived as his apprentice, the student of the Great Warlock, Albus couldn't help but muse over the thoughts. A smile touched his lips as he decided to consider this over the next year or two, "Indeed Harry. Madam Bones shall allow Mr. Greengrass to be chief prosecutor as she will run the trial. Since I did witness the end results of the incident and see the bright green of a killing curse spell from Mr. Malfoy's direction I will be a witness."

Harry bowed his head respectfully to the Headmaster as his long black hair mixed with slight shadows that crept up over his face hiding his smile. He peeked out at the reaction of the room considering his just hit a double, why not knock it home? Then he smiled warmly, "I noticed that the seat for House black is empty Chief Warlock, I wish to let you know that House Potter will be petitioning for my godfather Lord Sirius black to get a proper trial. It appears that he never received one the first time."

The response by Dumbledore was cut off as the Minister of Magic and Amelia Bones entered the room and proceeded to the bench. Harry gave the two older man a smile and nod of his head as they turned towards their respected seats.

It was a few minutes later that Lucius Malfoy was escorted into the room by four Aurors. As soon as Lucius was placed into a chair in the center of the room large chairs sprouted and wrapped the man in bindings. The man had been kept in Azkaban Prison since his arrest. The results were that the man appeared dirty, covered in soot and muck. His eyes looked wild from the effects of the Dementors and his skin paled from the lack of light. He truly looked like a mad convict that Mr. Greengrass was hoping to project to the Lords and Ladies.

Dumbledore took his seat the bench and banged down his gavel to call the Wizengamot court to order. He looked around the chamber before the old man spoke up, "The Wizengamot has been called to order for the trial of Lord Lucius of House Malfoy. The accused is charged with the casting of an Unforgivable curse, attempted Murder again the House of Potter, attempted line theft, actions under the Order of Lord Voldemort, and finally conspiracy to commit murder of numerous Hogwarts students by use of a dark artifact."

The room was silent as the list of crimes echoed through the chambers. A bit of surprise showed on the face of the Minister as it seemed that Dumbledore had just added the final charge to the listing. Or he had at least not informed the Minister of Magic of that single charge. Many of the eyes turned between Harry and Lucius. The boy squared his shoulders and gave his best resolute look staring at the defendant while waiting for Dumbledore to end his dramatic flaw. The stray thought echoed through the head of Harry that someday he needed to get Dumbledore to teach him how he was able to perfect the timing of such dramatic moments. The man always seemed a natural.

Dumbledore ended his dramatic pause to begin to speak once again, "Would the representative chosen for the Defendant and Prosecution come forward."

A solicitor stepped down from the Wizengamot to walk to a table beside the accused. He had dark brown hair that was touched with grey and black eyes with a medium build. The man's Wizengamot robes ha a house sigil for House Nott. Lord Nott turned his gaze onto Harry for a moment with his lips curled into a vicious sneer before he gaze a slight bow before the Chief Warlock.

Cyrus stepped from beside Harry down to the chamber floor. He walked to beside the table on the other side of the accused and placed down a few files. Next the man turned and executed a bow before the Minister, Director of the DMLE, and Chief Warlock.

Dumbledore smiled politely to both of the counsel then cleared his throat, "For the trial I am a material witness. So I shall accede to allow Director Bones to proceed with the trial in accordance with status 10.24.125." Dumbledore passed the gavel over to Amelia then left the bench to walk over and take the Wizengamot seat for his family.

A bit of chatter had started up in the chamber after hearing Dumbledore would bear witness. Those folks that had been outside of the room for Harry's little show found this information rather interesting. The gavel hammered down onto the podium as Amelia Bones called the meeting to order. "Lord Nott, how does your client plea to the charges placed before him?"

Lord Thomas Nott stood up with the same, seeming ever present, sneer on his lips and spoke smoothly, "Lord Lucius of House Malfoy pleads not guilty."

A bit of chatter again arose about the chamber from the plea but that was quickly removed by Madam Bones, "The formal charges have been stated. Solicitor Greengrass please make your case."

Cyrus stood up and stepped to the middle of the chamber. His eyes slowly started to roll over the faces of the one hundred members of the Wizengamot, "My Lords and Ladies, representatives of the good magical people of Great Britain and loyal servants of Her Majesty's realm."

Cyrus paused in his words for a moment as he turned his gaze back to the front of the court and Judge Bones, "The accused first knowingly placed a dark artifact into the cauldron of a Hogwarts student that would control the mind of said child. This child was influenced by the dark artifact for the purpose to set forth a basilisk on the students of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. All of the students and staff of Hogwarts was placed in danger including man of the children and grandchildren of the members of the Wizengamot. It was only by the noble work of young Heir Harry James Potter that the basilisk was slain and did not murder multiple students."

The middle aged solicitor paused again as he turned to look at each of the different faces of the assembly. A frown of disdain started clouded his features as his eyes came back to narrow looking at the accused. "After the attempts to commit murder failed the man became incensed and cast the killing curse on the Heir of the Ancient and Noble House of Potter. This attempt to murder the boy-who-lived was committed for three purposes."

A third dramatic pause made Harry wonder if Cyrus went to a school like Dumbledore just to learn the times to do this at when he heard Cyrus continue, " Lord Malfoy's family has a possible claim to the wealth of the Potter Family. Second, he wanted revenge because it was Mr. Potter that ended his scheme with the journal, and finally Lucius Malfoy was working under the guidance of the Dark Lord he used to served, He-who-must-not-be-named. Or as he was once more commonly known the son of a muggle Tom Riddle Junior."

The Wizengamot members now started to talk rather loudly together, not just in debate over the charges but about the fact that the name of Voldemort was revealed to the general public! Harry couldn't help but wonder what the blood supremacists would say about their Dark Lord now. Harry overheard a few of the members talking about just that concern while others seemed more concerned with the trial at hand. Finally the gavel hammering down brought order back to the courtroom.

The trial proceeded rather quickly in Harry's opinion. Dumbledore was called as a witness and told exactly what he saw. Ginny Weasley was called in too as a witness for the diary. She volunteered to take veritaserum to tell her story. A few members of the Board of Governors testified about the threats that they received from Mr. Malfoy to remove the Headmaster Albus Dumbledore from the school during the middle of the crisis.

Harry's memories were placed in a large pensive etched with runes. The work was directly from the Department of Mysteries and was said to be unique in the world. The pensive reflected the memories to float like a muggle hologram before all of the chamber. A small part of Harry's mind almost felt like he was watching a movie, or was he was in one as the show was of his own sights and sounds. The memories were particularly damning in the fact that you could hear Lucius cast the Killing curse at the boy. Harry finally took the stand himself to take a magical oath to tell the truth and told of the events that took place to back up the memory.

Cyrus was not done with his damning trial for the Malfoy Head of Family. He stepped to the center of the chamber and spoke up, "The Prosecution calls for the use of Veritaserum under the Law of 1665 Protection of Life Theft to be used on the accused. The attempted murder of Heir Potter was a direct attempt to end the Potter male family line. This law states that when an Ancient and Noble House such an attack for the purpose of line theft then the defense is required to take veritaserum."

Harry couldn't help but let out a grin as he saw the look of despair cross the face of Malfoy and Nott. Lord Nott stood up at that moment and spoke with a frown, "I object your Honor. This has not been enforced in a hundred years! To think we would allow this to be used on a member of the Wizengamot as upstanding as Lord Malfoy for the protection of a Half-blood Lord."

Amelia Bones sat there looking between the two barristers with a stern face before finally speaking up, "It shall be allowed due to the extensive evidence already presented and the prior claim of innocence under the Imperius Curse by Lord Malfoy to working for the Dark Lord."

Lucius started to struggle against the restraints but could not remove the heavy chains. A trio of Aurors came forward and held him tightly in place. One pried open the jaws of the man and forced the potion down his throat before they stepped to the side.

Cyrus received a nod to continue then turned towards Lord Malfoy with a smile, "Lord Lucius Malfoy is your name correct?"

The blonde lord frowned but was forced to speak up, "Yes."

Mr. Greengrass continued at once, "Were you a willing servant of the Dark Lord know as He-who-shall-not-be-named?"

Once again the blonde Lord tried to fight the potion but spoke, "Yes."

A smirk came over the lips of Mr. Greengrass, "Did you cast the killing curse at Harry James Potter?"

A growl came from the nobleman's throat as he spoke up, "Yes."

Cyrus smiled at the man as the Wizengamot was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, "Did you know the claims your family had on the Potter family fortune?"

Again Lucius spoke up, "Yes."

Cyrus kept a glare at the man as he spoke firmly, "Did you place a journal in the cauldron of Ginny Weasley with the purpose to cause the deaths of students through the area known as the Chamber of Secrets?"

Lucius growled under his breath, "Yes."

Cyrus turned to look at Amelia Bones and smiled, "The Prosecution rests out case Chief Warlock Bones."

Amelia looked towards Lord Nott with a frown, "Does the dense wish to ask their client any further questions?"

Lord Nott looked at Luciius still under the effects of the truth seru, he knew if anything was asked the man would not be able to lie smoothly. He shook his head slowly knowing that Lucius was a lost cause, "No, the defense will ask for a please from the prosecution of mercy."

Cyrus looked towards Harry who smiled at is solicitor. Harry pulled out a parchment and handed it to Cyrus whom look it over and raised an eyebrow. The man cleared his throat, "House Potter denies the request for mercy for any servant of the Dark Lord. Instead we ask for commentary compensation of one third of the Malfoy fortune for the attempted line theft. For the attempts of murder on Heir Potter, The House of Potter demands the Dementor's kiss to be executed immediately for Lord Malfoy."

There were a few gasps in the audience at the demands before a gavel sounded against the bench by Director Bones. The red head, stern woman stood up, "For unleashing a plot to cause murder of innocent children in the name of your Dark Lord in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, attempted line theft of House Potter, attempted murder, lying previously to this esteemed body, and crimes committed as a servant of Tom Riddle Junior, The Ministry of Magic accepts House Potter's request of terms."

The slene of the chamber was deafening as Director Bones looked down on Lord Malfoy, "You shall have five minutes to meet your family in a room with four Aurors present. After that Lord Lucius of House Malfoy, you shall receive the Dementor's kiss."

Harry watched as the chained man was released then led away from the chamber by a group of Aurors. He turned towards Cyrus and offered the man a grim smile, "Thank you Cyrus, I am in your debt."

Mr. Greengrass waved off the words of Harry with a smile, "Mr. Potter you just made my firm millions of gallons, not to mention your family owns part of the firm. We will always represent your interests. What you requested today will cause some enemies."

The boy smiled to the elder man then winked, "I have a few ideas to turn this situation into some good press."

Cyrus raised an eyebrow then smiled, "How about you come to my family dinner this evening to celebrate the victory and we can discuss it then."

Harry bowed his head respectfully to the elder man, "Thank you Mr. Greengrass, I would like very much to meet your family this evening."

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**Thank you again to my wonderful Beta Winged Seer Wolf! I hope you all like this chapter. It was a bit longer, more like I want most chapters to be honestly. I will be gone for a week on a cruise but as soon as I am back I am sure I will have a few chapters ready to be uploaded for you all. I have planned out most of the chapters through the fifth year. And no sorry Sirius did not get out of jail from the journals, that would have been too easy I think. Besides year three would be pretty boring otherwise. **

**I hope you all liked the trial and death of Lucius Malfoy **

**Note: A Story recommendation to read if you have not yet The Pureblood Princess by Endless7**

**PS Still taking suggestions for any ladies you think fit this version of Harry :) (but no Hermione or Ginny or slash)**


	7. The Greengrass Dinner

**The Shadow of the Wizarding World**

**By: Jamnaz79**

**Beta: Winged Seer Wolf **

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

_Note: I do not own Harry Potter for the book, movies, etc etc etc. But, I wouldn't trade my life for it as I am a lucky man nevertheless with a wonderful wife. _

_**-SotWW-**_

_The silence of the chamber was deafening as Director Bones looked down on Lord Malfoy, "You shall have five minutes to meet your family in a room with four Aurors present. After that Lord Lucius of House Malfoy, you shall receive the Dementor's kiss."_

_Harry watched as the chained man was released then led away from the chamber by a group of Aurors. He turned towards Cyrus and offered the man a grim smile, "Thank you Cyrus, I am in your debt."_

_Mr. Greengrass waved off the words of Harry with a smile, "Mr. Potter you just made my firm millions of gallons, not to mention your family owns part of the firm. We will always represent your interests. What you requested today will cause some enemies."_

_The boy smiled to the elder man then winked, "I have a few ideas to turn this situation into some good press."_

_Cyrus raised an eyebrow then smiled, "How about you come to my family dinner this evening to celebrate the victory and we can discuss it then."_

_Harry bowed his head respectfully to the elder man, "Thank you Mr. Greengrass, I would like very much to meet your family this evening."_

Leaving the Ministry served to be far harder than entering it had been. First, Harry had to get past a large group of Wizengamot members as many of them wanted to meet the future Lord Potter. Harry managed to make polite smiles and softly spoken words to the men and women. He hoped that these actions would be enough to give them a good impression. More than a few of these men and women had been friends of his father or grandfather and remarked on the family resemblance. Still, Harry was able to slowly make it through the well-wishers with the help of Cyrus to swerve through the crowd towards the exit.

It was at the exit though that Harry came face to face with Narcissa Malfoy nee Black. As expected the woman looked rather upset but strangely determined as she walked up to him. The boy tensed supposing at a minimum a possible assault, and at worst a second attempt on his life. He was surprised when instead of attacking the beautiful, blonde haired woman stopped and turned her dark eyes onto him. Harry could feel her gaze studying him over.

Harry noticed a bit of surprise in the eyes of the elegant woman, as she watched him. He took that opportunity to study her over in return. His eyes roamed up and down her figure, which was rather flattering despite being in formal dress robes. He could tell her robes covered up a slim build which most likely had flattering curves in the correct places. Her bust seemed to fill out the robes that were a perfect tailored fit to her form. The boy couldn't help but notice the high cheekbones and perfect skin of the pureblood woman. Her hair was perfectly styled to fit her head and her eyes were a smoldering black. To put it simply Lady Malfoy nee Black was a perfect image of a pureblood lady. Harry's thoughts were interrupted when Lady Malfoy spoke up, "Are you done staring at me young man?"

The boy's lips twisted into a smile at the older woman, "Only if you are done staring at me."

The woman's left eyebrow rose slightly to arch as she pressed her lips together in contemplation, "I wish to speak with you in regards to the settlement that was ruled by the Wizengamot."

Harry raised an eyebrow towards the woman then inclined his head, "We can meet at the House Potter chambers. Perhaps we could have a meeting in a week's time?"

The beautiful blonde woman eyed the boy over a moment before she frowned, "I believe it would be better to handle this matter quickly. Would you be available tomorrow to meet?"

The boy saw Cyrus nod his head slightly in the corner of his eyes so he smiled towards Narcissa, "Of course lady Malfoy. I am sure we can resolve the matter between our Houses, and move forward peacefully for the future."

The woman saw the boy finally understood her meaning, "I believe it is possible as well. Please excuse me, I must depart."

Harry stepped next to Cyrus as they watched Lady Malfoy walk away. He heard the older man speak up, "You handled that well Harry. I was afraid you would balk at the offer to speak."

The dark haired boy broke his gaze from the woman as she disappeared into the crowd to look at the man beside him, "What would she want to speak over? Wouldn't she hate me for her husband's death?"

The man motioned for them to walk, together they made their way from the courtroom speaking softly, "Her House is in a position of weakness. While her husband was considered a master at manipulating the Wizengamot and politics in general that position has been destroyed. Politically and now financially they are close to being regulated to minor status after this day's events."

The man paused as they passed a few older members of the Wizengamot with a smile offered to each man. As soon as they passed he spoke again, "But, I knew her before she was Lady Malfoy. She hated he man with a passion in school; it was not her choice to marry him. There is a possibility she may be willing to make a good deal to support something you are interested in if you agree not to take the allotted funds. That much money would cripple their estate. Most families keep a large percentage of their money tied up in land or long term investments. Come lets head to my home."

Cyrus did a side along apparition with the boy to the front entry chamber of his home. Harry immediately stumbled slightly and grimacing at the feeling of being flung magically to reappear in the location of the home. The world seemed to spin for the boy as if he was in a ship at sea during a terrible storm. But, he held his dignity keeping down the rising vomit. Cyrus could see the boy turning green and gave him a squeeze of the shoulder, "Don't worry everyone feels like that the first time."

The Greengrass estate resided in a large manor outside of Oxford. It was a beautiful sprawling estate that was centered on a hill overlooking a small creek. According to Cyrus the family owned three miles in each direction which were heavily forested. The residence had been built in the mid eighteen hundreds when the family came to England from Germany. It was an impressive sight to see for the young Potter heir.

The man snapped his fingers as a house elf appeared before him, "Flaggy please escort Mr. Potter to a guestroom so he can freshen up." Mr. Greengrass turned to glance at the boy, "I believe dinner will most likely be in thirty minutes. Please relax some till then."

Harry watched the man walk away then followed the house elf down a hallway to the left. He was escorted to a guest chamber that contained a nice dresser and queen sized bed. Off of the guest chamber was a washroom complete with a shower. Harry washed up quickly and waited for his escort to dinner relaxing on the bed.

The boy didn't have to wait too long as fifteen minutes after he had been brought to the chamber a knock signaled someone was the door. Harry walked over and slowly opened the door up to find a beautiful young teenage girl standing before him.

Harry had seen Daphne Greengrass before in her school robes but those bundled up things covered up the girl completely. This girl before him looked completely different then the sight he was used to in class. The fourteen year old young lady stood before Harry around five foot two with dark midnight black hair falling down to mid back. The girl had smooth, pale skin without a blemish visible to the eye. Her face was pretty with light sky blue eyes that at the moment stared at him hard as ice. Set between those eyes was a small pert nose, matched by light ruby lips which brought out the beautiful face of the young lady. She wore a white summer dress that fell down to her knees drawing the eye of the hormonal boy to her body before he snapped his gaze back to her face. Harry realized she knew he had been staring and crimson covered his cheeks.

The beauty of the young lady was perhaps diminished slightly by the glare she now leveled at the young Potter heir. It was not a glare of hate but instead of gold indifference. While the boy was different then she remembered from school, he had been a scrawny kid that didn't draw the eye except the famous scar he now seemed to fill out with a massive growth spurt. The Potter boy was very different in appearance but most likely he still was the child that seemed to get into endless trouble and get special treatment. Daphne wasn't one to be impressed by just a difference in looks.

Still is the boy was going to stare she might as well determine his worth. She carefully studied the boy as he did the same to her. First, she noticed that his glasses were gone along with his famous scar. Next, the boy had grown in size and developed muscle that had not been present on his arms and chest. But, the strange part that intrigued her, though she would never admit it out loud, was that her father seemed to approve and speak highly of the boy. The Harry Potter she remembered had little knowledge and no care to learn about the Wizarding World. The boy in school whenever not in robes for classes would wear giant old muggle clothing with holes in them. He seemed worse then a muggleborn with his belief that the traditions were wrong; perhaps it was the influence of his muggleborn friend Granger. But, somehow this boy had impressed her father; something must have changed but what?

Harry interrupted the inspection by Daphne as he lowered into a bow before gently cupping her hand to place a small kiss on her fingertips, "Ms. Greengrass, I don't believe we have ever have the chance to be formally introduced while at school."

Daphne felt a tinge of pink on her cheeks as she swiped her hand back as if it had been burnt, then she spoke up, "No we have had multiple classes but you never saw fit to speak with me. I am after all a filthy snake as your best friend would say. I am here to take you to dinner Potter."

Harry felt a frown tug at the corners of his lips before he turned it into a smile, "I am sorry that we have not spoken before. I was in a different mindset due to circumstances beyond my control. I can only plead ignorance and hope that someday I may make amends in the future?"

An eyebrow slowly raised on Daphne as she started to walk along next to Harry. She kept up her icy coldness to the boy as she guided him down the hallways past expensive paintings and rare sculptures. Her voice kept the coolness, "We shall see Potter."

The rest of the walk was in silence as the pair came into the family dining room. The table had been set for five as Mr. and Mrs. Greengrass were already seated. Harry stepped forward and pulled out a chair for Daphne. The girl stared daggers at the boy with a glare that could kill while Mrs. Greengrass watched the display with a twisted smirk on her face. The girl finally took her place and Harry followed suit next to her a moment later.

Harry smiled as he looked towards Mrs. Greengrass, "Thank you for inviting me to your wonderful home Mrs. Greengrass. It is truly beautiful."

Mrs. Greengrass was a beautiful woman in appearance; in face she looked to be an older, more developed copy of her daughter. Where Daphne hinted as possible future beauty her mother, Sylvia Greengrass fulfilled those expectations. She had the same dark straight black hair that seemed to shimmer in the light. The woman had high cheekbones to match her elegant smile that captured the eye. The boy of the woman must make Mr. Greengrass very happy, she was in a long Ravenclaw blue dress that hugged her full chest but smoothed over her slim figure. Sylvia had the same blue eyes of her older daughter that seemed to peer into the soul of the individual. Those eyes now fixed on Harry and he felt warmth that her daughter never showed as she offered him a smile, "Thank you Mr. Potter. It is a pleasure to have you here. Cyrus has told us much about you."

Harry returned the smile as he placed a cloth over his lap, "I hope nothing too bad."

Cyrus interrupted as he poured four glasses of wine, "No, I kept the terrible parts for after desert Harry."

Sylvia lifted her glass to sip the wine then spoke up, "I am sorry that Astoria will miss your visit. She is at her aunt's place tonight. But, she has been ecstatic at the chance to meet you. She starts Hogwarts next year."

Harry gently picked up the wine and sniffed it once having never tried the stuff before. He took a small sip then blinked liking the sweet taste, "I am sure I will get a chance to meet her next year then. Perhaps Daphne will introduce us at the train."

Daphne provided Harry with a sickly sweet smile that did not meet her eyes as she spoke up. "I am sure that can be arranged." Her words may have stated the possibility but the tone and facial features seemed to portray that it would be a cold day in hell first.

Harry returned the smile to the girl before breaking his gaze back to Cyrus, "Mr. Greengrass from the bottom of my heart thank you for your assistance. I am in your debt for all that you have done. Without your assistance, going above and beyond I am not certain where I would be right now. I am certain I would not know my heritage or much of my family. I cannot thank you enough for giving me the chance to learn of who I am. For an orphan there is no greater desire then to learn where they are from. Thank you for giving me a chance to learn who I am where I come from."

The elder man looked surprised at the heartfelt statement by the boy and smiled warmly towards him, "I am happy to be of service Harry. I hope I am not too bold where I would say that our work together has been enjoyable and I consider our families to be friends."

Harry bowed his head respectfully to the man with a smile then raised his glass of wine, "I agree completely, to new friends."

The foursome clinked their glasses together and sipped the wine. Harry smiled again to the man, " I wonder would it be possible for you to handle two more cases I am considering?"

Cyrus raised an eyebrow at the boy, "Two more cases? The Headmaster?"

The boy shook his head slowly back and forth before speaking up, "No, I don't think politically it would be smart for me to bring a suit against him. I think there might be other ways for that situation to be resolved. Thanks to your assistance I have started to learn about the Wizarding World. In the past I was kept withdrawn and it seems that may have been on purpose. Now, since I have learned a bit, I noticed that my name has been used for a number of years on books, toys, even my own cereal among other things. All of these profitable business ventures have been done without my consent. Does the magical world have any type of laws to protect the unauthorized use of my person without my permission?"

The older man's eyes started to sparkle as he listened to the boy considering the possibilities then he smiled brightly, "Harry. I do believe we can rectify that situation. It will take some time to compile the list of companies but I believe that we can start very soon. What is the second situation Harry?"

Harry learned forward eager noticing the glint in the eyes of the older man, "Tonks mentioned something about the right of conquest?"

Cyrus leaned back and took a sip of wine as he watched the boy, "The right of conquest is an old law at the time of the founding of the Ministry. The law is divided into wizard wards and creature battles. On creature battles it states that when a Wizard defeats a dangerous magical creature in battle the corpse of the creature is the wizard's by conquest. Ten percent of the value would be given to the holder of the property, but the rest of the value would be the Wizard's to use. It was considered a hunting law. In older days wizards would often go out and hunt down creature for sport. Now many of the creatures are protected species so they would not fall under the law."

Cyrus paused a moment studying Harry closely, "The second potion deals with wizard wars. If a wizard were to assault a noble Wizarding families' household in an official war or blood feud and die in the process then they could be forfeit of their titles or wealth."

Harry looked at the man stunned at the idea. He had been told of the creature laws by Tonks but nothing of the second part of the law. A thought occurred to him that seemed fitting while a grin spread over his lips, "then it seems that I must make two claims under this law."

Daphne watched Harry and Cyrus talk with keen interest. The boy seemed so very different then when he was at school. Was this new Harry Potter the real boy or was he just another face of the Headmaster's favorite? This new Harry Potter intrigued her, he showed more Slytherin then Gryffindor. If this was the true Harry Potter, he would be a fascinating study. Perhaps he could even someday be a worthy political ally as her father had just earlier announced by naming their Houses friends. Her thoughts were distracted as Harry continued to talk.

"I wish to make a claim on the corpse of the Basilisk that I slew in the bowels of Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is under court record of the Wizengamot that I slew the creature as stated by the Headmaster's own testimony." Harry smiled warmly towards Mr. Greengrass before he continued, "This creature was well over forty feet long so I believe it might hold some value. If nothing else it would look sharp for clothing. Perhaps I could wear a bit even if I am not a Slytherin."

Daphne and Sylvia blinked at the size of the creature as they stared at Harry in Astonishment. Sylvia spoke u, "The creature that Malfoy unleashed by was a basilisk?"

Cyrus nodded his head towards his wife with a frown, "Yes, and if what Harry says is true to the size it might be the largest specimen ever found. I am certain Harry that we can win that claim. I will have someone at the firm draw up papers. What is the second request?"

Harry downed the rest of his wine glass with a single gulp. Then he placed it down at the table and looked at the three Greengrass family members with a firm gaze. "Tom Marvelo Riddle was the last of the Gaunt family. He attacked my family in a war time in their household with the attempt to end the line of House Potter. I believe that may qualify for the requirements for right of conquest?"

The eyebrows of Cyrus rose into his hair at surprise he started to open his mouth but Harry spoke formally, "I wish to claim the titles and wealth of Tom Marvelo Riddle, commonly known as Lord Voldemort, last heir of Lord Salazar Slytherin. I, Harry James Potter by right of conquest claim the title of Heir of Slytherin."

As soon as the words were spoken the light in the room darkened to pitch black before flickering back on. The boy's body seemed to glow darkly, the shadows of the chamber to cling around him as they rushed from the walls to enshroud his right hand. Harry looked down as he felt pain shoot up and down his arm. It felt as if every bone in hand was being broken squeezed at once in a bitter torment. Next his hand started to feel as if it had been stuck into the fire pit. Boils started to erupt over his hand as Harry dimly heard screams coming from the other occupants of the room.

Harry cried out in pain as he grimaced holding his hand tightly. The lights kept flickering as more shadows seemed to creep from the corners of the room attaching to his flesh. The shadows touch felt as if they were trying to cool the burning torment to his body. The boils started to recede and the bones seemed to crack back into place.

Harry felt light headed as he looked up into the eyes of Daphne, "It appears that the school was incorrect. I am not the heir of Slytherin."

Immediately after the words left his mouth, Harry collapsed to the ground passed out.

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**AN: I broke this chapter up, originally it was supposed to be far longer. But, I felt the meeting with Ms. Malfoy could come next. After that one more chapter then back to Hogwarts. I know I spent a lot of time on this summer but I felt there was an extreme amount of things happening to Harry. Please as always give me your wonderful feedback. I love hearing your thoughts and critical of the work. **


	8. A Meeting with Narcissa

**The Shadow of the Wizarding World**

**By: Jamnaz79**

**Beta: Winged Seer Wolf **

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

_Note: I do not own Harry Potter for the book, movies, etc etc etc. _

_**-SotWW-**_

_Harry felt light headed as he looked up into the eyes of Daphne, "It appears that the school was incorrect. I am not the heir of Slytherin."_

_Immediately after the words left his mouth, Harry collapsed to the ground passed out._

Harry awoke as the light of day struck his face. Quickly he glanced around for his wand finding it on the bedside table. Once the warmth started to seep from the wand he felt better, safer. A quick glance at his surroundings brought back the memory of the room he was in from the night before. Slowly he sat up, reaching for his head as he felt the pounding of a headache. The boy tried to remember what had taken place but all he remembered was going to dinner, having a bit of talk and wine then a claiming oath. It seems that the oath didn't go so well for him.

He quickly shook his head then slid from bed discovering himself just to be in boxers. The question entered his mind if this was done by the house elf or perhaps Daphne had placed him to bed like this. But, that question as forgotten moments later when he started to dress knowing that girl would let him rot on the floor then help him. Still if she was Cyrus daughter she couldn't be all bad could she?

Harry spotted his clothing from the night before neatly cleaned and folded on the edge of the bed. A curiosity touched his mind as he spoke up, "Dobby?"

A flash later and his house elf appeared before him, "Great Master Harry Potter called for Dobby?"

The boy smiled at the side of the elf, and made a note that the house elf could pass the wards of the Greengrass household with seeming ease. Were house elves able to do this in his own House wards? Or every house wards? He would need to have that looked into, as doubtful as Purebloods might be use house elves as thieves still the idea of one appearing to cause trouble at any time was present. "Dobby, can you bring those clothes home and bring me a fresh pair? I need something business casual for a meeting today."

Dobby bobbed his head excited with a bright smile, "Yes Master Harry Potter Sir!"

A pair of bright flashes later and Dobby was gone and back with clothing for Harry to wear. Harry picked up the white cotton button down shirt, a nice emerald green tie, finely crafted black slacks, black boots, and finally a set of fine silk robes. He started to place them on as Dobby just stood there watching. _He is useful, even if he is a little creepy. _"Thank you Dobby. That will be all for now. I am sure I will summon you later for the meeting to help bring some refreshments. For now you can return to your assigned duties."

The house elf smiled brightly, "Yes Master Harry Potter Sir!" Then Dobby disappeared in a flash of light leaving Harry to finish getting ready.

One he was done getting dressed he quietly stepped out of the guest chambers to follow the hallway towards where he met the family before. After wandering a few minutes trying to remember the route he came to the dining room. Seated there drinking some morning coffee was Mr. Greengrass as he read the daily prophet.

Upon the sight of Harry entering the room the man placed down the prophet and smiled to the boy, "It is good to see you are up and about Harry. I was worried last night that you might be asleep for a while. Please sit and join me."

Harry stepped over to sit down as the house elf, Flaggy, appeared in to place down a plate filled with pancakes, sausage and eggs. Next to the plate was a cup of steaming hot tea and a glass of orange juice. Before Harry could even thank the elf it disappeared away. He slowly started to eat as Mr. Greengrass talked.

"Luckily Sylvia has her master's in healing so she was able to look you over quickly. She saw there was nothing found to be wrong with your body or core after the excitement. Still I would suggest not to try to do that again. There is a reason that it is done through Gringotts. They take certain precautions that allow for situations like you almost experienced not to take place."

Harry placed down his tea after a sip, "Situations Sir?"

Cyrus leaned forward to stare into Harry's eyes, "Trying to claim ownership of a family line without being one hundred percent sure it is your right Harry is dangerous. Your magic could have been stripped or even your life. Please never do that again understood?"

The boy was wide eyed at the possibility that he could have just lost his magic or even ended his life.

Seeing the look on the face of the boy Cyrus chuckled, "Do not worry Harry. We all do dumb things when we are young. My sister once forced me to make a magical oath when I was a boy. It was an oath to paint the neighbors fence pink and purple. Nothing big, but if I had not done it I would have become a squib. You should have seen the look on my mother's face when it was done."

Harry watched the man chuckling and couldn't help but smile, "I didn't know you had a sister sir, does she live in England?"

The older man shook his head slowly back and forth before sipping his coffee. He slowly placed it back down as Harry continued to eat his food, "No, She was married to an old family in Germany. One of the old marriage contracts the family had was enacted. So she had no choice but to go and be wed. Turned out well for them as she seemed to like the man and has a nice family now. I think her oldest daughter is at Durmstrang right now in her fourth year. Nasty business marriage contracts, I believe that was the last one for my family at least, it had been left over since the 1600s."

Cyrus looked up at the boy as he noticed the confusion on his face. "A marriage contract is a political agreement between two families. Normally it is written by the head for a gain for each family. But, I wouldn't worry too much the goblins would have presented it if the Potters had any when you became the official Heir. Not to mention that the Potters never held much to the contracts, they actually seemed to hate them. Actually that was how Narcissa and Lucius were married."

The boy looked down and saw his plate was empty. He never realized how hungry he was, but then he didn't get to eat much last night due to his own stupidity. He sipped the tea enjoying the breakfast brew, "So Narcissa never wanted to be married to the man? Do you have any ideas for the meeting today?"

The older man slid a wrapped scroll over to next to Harry, "Read over this. It was something that that firm worked for possible terms if the Wizengamot accepted our requirements of funds. I hope you will find it fitting."

Harry carefully unrolled the parchment and looked it over slowly then frowned, "Do you think she would agree to this?"

The boy passed the scroll back to the older man whom slid it away with a smile. "I think it is possible. It would be to her House's benefit and your own. We should be off once you are ready."

The breakfast was quickly pushed away from him, and then the Potter heir stood up at once with a smile, "I am ready. Mrs. Greengrass and Daphne are not here today though sir? I wanted to thank her for last night."

"Unfortunately both are gone. Daphne had plans to visit her friend from school and my wife is at work. I will pass on your thanks to her." Mr. Greengrass smiled as they reached the study. He plucked up some floo powder to toss into the fireplace. "You first, Harry. I will come right afterwards, just call out for the Ministry. I believe your Auror friend will be there waiting for us."

Mr. Greengrass was right as not only Tonks by Kingsley were waiting for them as they stepped out of the floo network into the atrium of the Ministry of Magic. The pair of Aurors quickly guided Harry past the crowds keeping them back from approaching him. The boy was practically dragged out of the large gathering of folks heading back and forth for duties of the ministry.

It was a surprise that it only took them ten minutes after bypassing the wand check in and other normal requirements for the special guest to make it to his meeting. They actually were able to make it thirty minutes before the assigned time. Still, he found Lady Malfoy standing outside of his family chamber awaiting him.

The boy caught a look at the beautiful, mature woman and smiled politely as he lowered into a bow keeping his eyes raised not to lose sight of her, "Good morning Lady Malfoy."

If the woman was taken aback from having two Aurors show up with Harry and Mr. Greengrass she didn't show it at all. Instead she offered her hand to the teenager with a polite, if forced smile, "Good morning to you Heir Potter and Mr. Greengrass."

The door to the House Potter chambers was a large dark red oaken door with no knob. The symbol on the front was the Potter crest brushed in gold with tiny runes carved onto it. Harry reached upwards to touch his hand against the symbol. For a full minute nothing happen, he closed his eyes as he concentrated on the symbol and then he could feel it. There was a ward on the door that would only work for a Potter, a ward tied to his blood and magic. A small smile curled on his lips as he concentrated to push against the door and finally it swung open. For a brief second as Harry opened his eyes he caught sight of a second ring on his finger before it disappeared from sight immediately.

Harry turned towards the pair of purebloods and his guards and motioned them into the chamber. "Please have a seat. My apologies for the poor state that you might find the room, it has not been opened since the 1970s."

After Cyrus and Narcissa entered the chamber Tonks leaned against the wall as Kingsley slipped off to other duties. Harry followed his guests into the room, and found it to be a small chamber. The room was around twelve by twelve feet in size and reminded him at once of a professor's chamber at school. The walls were lined with old books of Wizarding laws, families, traditions and history. In the middle of the chamber was a lark dark oak desk with three comfortable looking chairs available. Behind the desk was a painting that at the moment had nobody visible. Harry stepped forward to take his seat before he spoke, "Dobby."

In an instant the former House elf of the Malfoy family appeared before Harry and bowed, "Dobby is here to serve Master Harry Potter Sir!"

A slight cringe came over the shoulders of Harry at the excited demeanor of the house elf, "Dobby please bring us some tea and biscuits."

The house elf bowed before the three purebloods then disappeared in a burst only to return before the boy could even open his mouth with steaming tea on a platter and a kettle. Next to the tea was a silver plate with ten biscuits to enjoy. Harry smiled towards the elf then nodded his head, "Thank you Dobby that will be all."

Harry waited for Mr. Greengrass and Lady Malfoy to take up their cups before he plucked up his own to sip the Lady Grey twinning's tea. His emerald eyes sparkled as they watched the blonde woman over the cup waiting.

Narcissa sipped at her tea as she scanned over the chambers studying the room. She knew of the man that once owned this place, he was considered a political power and her Great Uncle. But, those days are gone, gone perhaps forever. The tea brought a small smile to her lips, the house elf had remembered exactly how she liked it. It was yet another mistake of her husband to lose that elf to Potter.

Her eyes wandered back over to the boy and she again debated her choices today. She knew that with Cyrus here as his representation her plan might be a little more difficult then she would expect. But, still the boy according to her son was a blunt Gryffindor so it should be possible to fix the situation, "Mr. Potter, I fully understand your decision in regards to my former husband's actions. I understand that his choices have determined his own demise. I will not argue with you over that."

A slight raise of the eyebrow was all that betrayed Harry's shock at the coldness of the woman over her husband's demise. He waited for the woman to continue and was not disappointed a moment late, "I will be blunt for you Mr. Potter. Taking one third of our family fortunes would put myself into dire straights. I understand that you wish to take revenge for the actions of my former Husband and his master but I was not a part of his plot nor would I condone it."

Harry grimaced at her words as he leaned back placing down the tea cup with a frown, "Lady Malfoy there is three slight problems. The first issue is that the court has already made their ruling. The second issue is that I understand you may not condone your husband's previous actions but you did not stop them. Finally, how would I know that you would turn around and use those finances against me? Your own son has repeatedly tried to cause trouble for me since I came to the Wizarding World."

Lady Malfoy calmly placed down the cup of tea onto the countertop, "I will address your concerns Mr. Lord. First, I and my son will take oaths not to ever harm House Potter or ever join any plots against your Household. I will even take an unbreakable vow that I was never a part or nor will I join the madman that was my former Husband's master. Did you know Mr. Potter that we are blood-kin through House Black?"

The woman paused in her words letting them sink in as Harry studied her carefully with consideration then he spoke up, "Did you know my grandmother Lady Dorea Potter nee Black?"

Narcissa smiled warmly to the young man before her with a nod of her head, "Yes, I knew her very well. She was my favorite Aunt growing up. It was even talked about for a time that I might be contracted to your father, but that was before he took to your mother."

Harry blinked in surprise at the words then frowned, "I might be able to consider changing the terms. I would not wish to ruin family. But, I would have some requirements. Please hear me out on all of them before you agree."

Narcissa picked up her tea cup and sipped pleased with herself that the route of family seemed to be working. She stared at the boy attentively as if her life depended on his words.

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a sealed scroll placing it down before the Lady Malfoy. He met her eyes with a small smile, "Mr. Greengrass prepared this document in case of a situation like this happened. I will take these terms along with the oath of you and cousin Draco."

The blonde woman plucked the scroll off of the desk then slowly broke the seal opening it up.

_House Potter and House Malfoy Settlement Terms_

_By signature of this agreement the undersigned parties accept the terms below._

_House Potter and House Malfoy shall enter into a formal alliance pact. None of either Household shall willingly harm the other. House Malfoy will share any information that could lead to the direct harm of House Potter. Neither Household shall allow any member to enter into service to a Lord that would be against the other Household._

_House Malfoy shall assist House Potter in any way possible for the cause of freedom of Lord Sirius Black from Azkaban Prison._

_Lady Narcissa Malfoy nee Black and Heir Draco Malfoy will take oaths not to harm House Potter or it's members in anyway for revenge for the deceased Lord Lucius Malfoy. They shall not assist any other associates in seeking revenge for the legal decision of the Wizengamot._

_Reparations for the assault on House Potter's heir shall be five percent of House Malfoy's Gringotts tallied fortune. That amount shall be placed in a trust account under the James Potter Foundation. The James Potter Foundation shall be created for the express purposes below. _

_The James Potter Foundation shall be formed for the express purpose of protection of Muggleborn and Muggle raised magical children. The foundation shall employ hit wizards to track and protect muggleborn children from aggressive and abusive muggle actions against the child._

_The James Potter Foundation shall House any magical child that has been abused or found to be living in a muggle orphanage. _

_These children will be allowed to be magically adopted into magical families in need of children if they so desire._

_The James Potter Foundation shall award scholarships for any Wizarding School in Europe or North America for a foundation child upon their eleventh birthday._

_The foundation shall be managed by a set panel appointed by Heir Harry James Potter and Narcissa Malfoy nee Black._

_Lady Narcissa Malfoy nee Black and shall formally recognize Ms. Andromeda Tonks nee Black and Nymphadora Tonks nee Black as members of House Black._

_Draco of House Malfoy shall accept the choice of Lord Sirius Orion Black as the next Head of House Black and shall not challenge that claim._

_House Potter will receive 10% instead of one third of the Malfoy's Gringotts Estate._

_By my signature I formally recognize the terms of this agreement between House Potter and House Malfoy_

_Harry James Potter _

Heir of House Potter

Lady of House Malfoy

The Lady Malfoy placed down the scroll to the table, picking up the blood quill to sign the document under Harry's signature. She looked at him curious, "You do not seem to be like my son descried you Mr. Potter."

Harry offered a bright smile at her words then winked, "I am not at all what I let other believe Lady Malfoy. Did you have any questions for the terms?"

Narcissa looked down as two copies of the scroll appeared with Gringotts seals attached to them while the original disappeared most likely to be filed into the Bank vaults. She considered with a frown, "Two questions, no future marriage requirements? Why the interest in House Black?"

Harry tilted his head to the side slightly as he studied her dark eyes before he spoke, "I don't want to saddle any children with marriages that they may not find love. Perhaps someday Draco and I will find it a good idea but first we need to learn to get along."

He paused biting his bottom lip, a bad nervous habit before he continued, "As for House Black, my Godfather is innocent. He was not the secret keeper of my mother and father. Peter Pettigrew was, I read it directly in my mother's diary. I want to see him freed. But, in addition House Black is the last family I have, the next closest would be fourth cousins with the Longbottom House. I have never had …. Family."

The stern woman frowned as her Slytherin façade faded with a smile that was rare but warm, "I understand. Family comes first is the motto for House Black. I never loved my husband. It was a contract marriage. Furthermore, I never was a part of Lucius plots with the dark fool. But, I do love my family and my son."

Harry watched carefully as Narcissa pulled out her wand and held it aloft, "I, Narcissa Malfoy nee Black do swear on my magic that I was never a servant of the he-who-shall-not-be-named. I swear not to seek revenge for the death of my Husband on House Potter now or forever. My life and magic be forfeit if I break this oath. So mote it be."

Narcissa gave a warm smile to Harry as she kept her wand a lot and spoke, "I, Narcissa Malfoy nee Black do formally recognize Andromeda Tonks nee Black as my sister and a member of House Black. Further, I pledge myself to the support for freedom for Lord Sirius Orion Black, my cousin. So mote it be."

The woman lowered her wand down and looked firmly at Harry, "I believe that should be acceptable. I will have Draco come find you on the train early so he may give his oath."

Harry smiled to the woman, "May I ask a favor?"

Narcissa started to rise then stopped at the question intrigued, "You may." She paused a moment then spoke again, "You may ask one Nephew."

Harry slowly stood up to join Narcissa, his smile now turned genuine which caused her emerald eyes to sparkle, "Thank you Aunt Narcissa. Will you please express my apologies to your son that when we originally met I did not understand that by publically shunning his hand of friendship I was committing what traditions might dictate to be a feud? I was kept ignorant of the Wizarding World at the time by forces beyond my control. Perhaps that understanding will be a start to change our… rivalry."

The woman stared at him for long moments as she smiled, "Thank you for expressing that and on behalf of House Malfoy we accept the apology. I promise my son the importance of today."

Harry moved around to offer his hand to assist Narcissa to the door when she startled him by reaching up to touch his hair, "You look so like James, but your hair is different."

She lowered her hand and placed it onto the young man's arm, "You are not a Gryffindor."

Harry leaned close to whisper softly to her ear, "Want to know a secret Auntie?"

A slight raise of the elegant eyebrow of the beautiful blonde haired woman, "Please do tell."

The young teenager continued his whisper, "I am not. I was to be placed in Slytherin but I did the most Slytherin thing of all. I convinced the Hat to place me into Gryffindor."

The look of surprise in the eyes of the woman was of complete surprise. She opened her mouth twice then smiled turning to look at Mr. Greengrass. "You have started to train him well Cyrus. Please keep my handsome nephew safe and sound." With those words spoken the Lady pulled a black veil of morning back over her head and disappeared from the room back into the mass of people.

Harry watched her go before turning towards Cyrus with a frown. "I believe that was not what I had expected. Do you think she will genuine?"

Cyrus' lips twisted into a smile, "Indeed, Narcissa is often different than expected. I went to school with her and remember her in Slytherin House. It is hard to forget she was the Queen of the House, and ruled the House as tradition demands. It was not her Husband that was the power behind that family. She was a force politically but demurred to her husband for the spotlight. Now that he is gone, she has the power and a cause, I pity her enemies. You did well today Harry. You made an ally that could be very useful someday, but never forget to be careful."

Harry frowned depth in thoughts then nodded his head firmly, "A powerful ally is better than a powerful enemy. Shall we head off?"

Cyrus placed down the empty tea cup then smiled, "I believe this situation might help your decision for where to foster your remained years till you are of age."

Harry raised an eyebrow and then nodded his head, "Yes, perhaps it will be able to fast track my godfather being freed."

The pair exited the doorway as Harry closed and sealed the door, activating the wards over it. He turned and looked at Tonks and smiled, "I believe I have something to show you at home that you might like to see."

A slight crimson came over the cheeks of Nymphadora, "Harry not in public."

She rolled her eyes at the look of surprise that came to the face of Cyrus Greengrass. Then she spoke up, "It is a joke Mr. Greengrass. I would never be improper with my charge."

Harry waived off the words of the woman then smiled to the man, "I shall meet you at your office next week Mr. Greengrass. Please convey my apologies again to your wife and daughters for not getting to enjoy more of their company last night."

"We will have you over again soon Harry. Have a good day both of you." Cyrus spoke before he turned to walk off into the masses.

The young Potter lord waited till he left then opened the door walking into the chamber. He picked up a few books off of the shelves to shrink and placed into his pockets. He walked out of the room, sealing it then looked at Tonks, "Lets head home now, so I can complete your fondest desire."

**-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-**

**Author Note: I am surprised at the great results of my cliffhanger last time. Some of you love it and some hate it. I teased a little bit about the Heir of Slytherin here but next chapter will go more in depth. I wanted to thank everyone for the reviews (150 already, I never expected so much interesting) and reading the story. I am glad so many are enjoying it so far. I promise I will keep trying to somehow fix my terrible excuse for grammar. Next chapter will return Hermione and the manipulative master of the greater good. Then after that will be the train ride back to Hogwarts.**

**AN2: A slight change for the compensation. I added one thing and fixed the wording a bit.**

**Story Recommendation of the week: ****Harry Potter And The Summer Of Change by lorddwar**


	9. A troublesome Old Man

**The Shadow of the Wizarding World**

**By: Jamnaz79**

**Beta: Winged Seer Wolf **

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

_Note: I do not own Harry Potter for the book, movies, etc etc etc. _

_**-SotWW-**_

A week after the meeting with Narcissa, Harry was enjoying an afternoon nap. After all, everyone deserves a nice deep nap once in a while and his life this summer had been training, business, politics, headaches, and life changing events. Still, it seemed for Harry Potter a nap was not in the cards. He had just settled down and fallen asleep about ten minutes prior. He was just starting to thoroughly enjoy his rest when a splash of freezing cold water fell onto his face and brought him to a frightful awakening. His emerald eyes darted open as he spotted the pink haired culprit of his trouble standing above him.

Nymphadora Tonks couldn't keep the smile from her face as she watched the water splash over the face down to the lap of Harry. She had made certain that the water was on the verge of icing over before she dumped it. He might be the son of a marauder, but it doesn't mean that she couldn't have some fun too.

Now watching Harry leap and almost falling off of the couch she couldn't keep the grin off of her face. This attack, after all was just the latest in the line of pranks back and forth. It was nothing compared to the muggle itching powder in her bras, the invisible ink that became visible on the back of her shirt when she walked into the Auror office that said, "Fuck you Death eaters." Perhaps her favorite had been Kingsley had stopped over and stolen the fresh blueberry muffin that Harry had made for them. The man had eaten it at work and turned into a large rolling blueberry. Harry had sworn he got the idea from a muggle movie called Charlie and the Chocolate factory. But, now this was just a small personal bit of fun.

"Oh you think that is funny Nymph?" The words came from the mouth of the younger teen boy just moments before he reached up and grabbed ahold of her arms pulling her forward into his lap. The boy whipped out his wand and cast a silent augmenti spell. The back of her mind was impressed that he had managed to cast the spell silently, but the other part of her was too surprised to care.

A screech filled the room for a second time that afternoon as icy cold water splashed against Nymph's face and chest drenching her white tee shirt. She reached out quickly and started to try to wrestle the wan from Harry's hands. The two of them rolled around on the couch before falling down hard onto her backside. Luckily Nymph succeeded in overpowering Harry to grab the wand and toss it to the side. The cost of acquire the wand for Nymph was unfortunately to end up with Harry straddled above her looking down at her evilly.

The girl couldn't help but tease her friend in between deep breaths, "You have me now. What will you do with me?"

Harry looked down at the beautiful, wet, teenager and blushed crimson. Two thoughts ran through his head counter to each other, the first was the need for revenge for the loss of the nap, but the second was purely hormone driven. The second seemed to win the day as Harry reached down pulling the girl up seated towards him "I think I will do this…"

The teenage boy leaned his head downwards towards the girl about to give her his first kiss. But, when they were a haired breath away a pounding sound echoed from the door shattering the moment and distracting the two.

The two teens became alert right away as Harry rolled off of Nymph grabbing his wand before taking a position at the side of the doorway. His back was against the wall in a place that had been magically reinforced with steel to be impenetrable. He crouched down to so he would be at the height of the knees of an intruder, where most adult attackers might aim at the chest or head. He could shoot upwards easily and remove the threat quickly, one swift strike.

Tonks slipped quickly behind the couch which had reinforced magically to act as a barrier. She crouched down waving her wand at the door to trigger the runes carved into it. After a moment the other side of the door started to act as a two way mirror. They could see out at the individual in the hallway but the individual would not see back in. The spell was a trick tied through the runes to the apartment, a development of Harry's mother before her death.

On the other side of the doorway stood a sight that neither of the teenagers expected to see, Albus Percival Brian Dumbledore. Neither of the two moved from their protected locations at the sight, after all anyone could use polyjuice potion.

Nymph flicked her wand again to activate a second charm on the runes. The voice echoed outside of the room into the hallway like a muggle speakerphone, "Albus Dumbledore, please prove your identity. What did you say to me, Tonks, in private after I told you of my assignment?"

The old man seemed to listen to the question then smiled, "I told you Nymphadora that Harry was the most precious young man you will ever find. And to be careful not be captured by his spell. He seems to ensnare others to his ways."

Harry turned his gaze towards Nymph for a brief moment to see the crimson her cheeks. A surprise since a metamorphmagus can easily control their skin coloring, "He is laying it on a little think. Perhaps we should blast him to see if he really is the Headmaster?"

Nymph took back control of herself with a growl, "Next question, What did you say to my mother when you spoke to her in private in regards to Ted Tonks her seventh year at Hogwarts."

Amusement was plainly visible on the face of the aged man as he spoke up, "I told her to follow her heart and everything will sort itself out. I was right of course, since they had you Nymphadora."

The woman let out a sigh with a frown, "It is him, but if he keeps calling me Nymphadora I might just go with your plan."

Harry nodded his head towards his assigned protector before flicking his wand to lean up his and Tonk's clothing with a quick household drying charm, "Please come in Professor. I have been expecting you to visit us."

Albus stepped through the doorway and spotted Harry and Nymphadora setup in ambush position. He smiled at the pair of them, "Perhaps one more show of who I am? Fawkes, please join us."

A bright flash of fire and clap of thunder signaled the arrival of the phoenix as it appeared in the living room. The creature ripped right through the wards of the house to appear in the center of the room, then flapped it's wings to land lightly onto the kitchen counter.

The tall boy flicked the door flossed then walked into the kitchen to pull out two bowls. He poured some habanera peppers into the first bowl then some water into the second bowl before he placed them down onto the kitchen counter for the phoenix. "Welcome to my home Fawkes. Please know my friend, that you are always welcome in any residence of House Potter."

The phoenix seemed to be happy for the words of the boy but it was hard to tell as it was eating the peppers as if they were its last meal. The boy heard the voice of the Headmaster which seemed to dance with delight, "I think Harry that you have made a friend there. Perhaps when I am on to the next great adventure Fawkes will want to live with you."

Harry raised his emerald gaze from the phoenix to look at the Headmaster's twinkling eyes, "I am sure that will be a long time coming Albus."

A slight raise of the eyebrow from Tonks was all the surprise that was given from the tone of Harry accompanied by his use of the Headmaster's first name.

The old man smiled at the boy but before he could speak up Harry motioned to the dining room table, "please sit, would you like some tea? I have a bag of muggle candy I thought you might like."

Harry placed a kettle of tea on the stove before he reached into the fridge and pulled out a variety package of different mini chocolate bars. He walked over and placed the package down onto the table as the tea started to heat up, "These are multiple different types of American candy bars."

Harry pushed over a snickers, kit kat, almond joy, and milky way before the Headmaster, I know you love your sweets. The best part is there is no earwax flavor."

The boy settled down to sit across from the old man as he watched the excitement and joy in the most powerful wizard in perhaps the world over muggle candy. To put that he looked like a kid in a candy store truly was correct. He mentally checked off one Christmas gift off of the list to acquire. Of course, that would assume this conversation would go as he had planned it to.

Tonks walked over to the table and placed down three cups of eat for the group and settled down herself. The old man tried one of each bar then gently took up the cup of tea from Tonks, "Thank you Nymphadora."

The grimace that came over the face of Tonks was a beautiful sight to behold for her roommate. He awaited the yelling response to erupt from her but she held her tongue. Instead he hair flashed between bright red that would make a Weasley cringe to neon green.

Dumbledore placed down his cup of tea and smiled, "It is good to see you are both doing so well. Especially you, Harry my boy."

The aged Headmaster straightened his glasses with his best grandfatherly look as his eyes rested on the boy studying him , "Harry, you are truly a special boy… err young man."

The old man placed boy of his hands down onto the table before him as he continued, "I owe you an apology Harry. I never knew of the abuse that you put up with. I had someone that was supposed to keep a watch and let me know if there was any trouble. But, she never let know of anything. I should have personally made certain that your family took care of you. I never considered that your relatives would be that terrible of people. They were your blood-kin and the idea of abuse is a foreign one in magical society. We treasure our young because there are so few."

Harry frowned at the old man considering his words, "Albus…" He paused a moment as the Headmaster stopped his talking to still a bit unused to his name coming from Harry's lips. He let the silence sit there a moment his eyes meeting the Professors before he continued, "They aren't my blood relatives Albus. My mother was adopted."

The old man froze with his hands halfway to his mouth with the cup of tea. His eyes narrowed and for a moment lost their twinkle. The old grandfather sitting there moments before disappeared in an instant to be replaced by the angry archmage. The man's voice became demanding, and Harry saw perhaps the power behind the war against Grimmwald. "You mean to tell me that those muggles abused you and they were not even your family?"

The nod that Dumbledore saw from Harry didn't quiet the anger of the old man but instead stoked the fires, "They lied to me and took my money to care for you. Then they treated you like shit and blemished my name!"

The fact that the old man cursed was startling. The fact that this was a Dumbledore that Harry had never seen before was perhaps a bit scary. Before him now and started to sprout a magical radiance was one of the most powerful wizards in the world. The fact that this was happening in the middle of his dining room did not bode well for his mother's china cabinet. Perhaps he should have been more afraid but, somewhere in the back of his mind he knew Dumbledore wouldn't harm him. He was needed for the prophecy. The curses coming from the mouth of the old man were in languages that Harry had not heard before but judging from the interest on Tonk's face they must be colorful. Finally, five minutes later the old man started to calm down.

Now that Harry saw the man calming back to his normal self, he figured it was best to give the true details of the situation, "I had the goblins look over the blood wards you had placed over the residence. It was due to their findings that I am here meeting with you today and not in New Salem or a dozen other schools."

The Headmaster was brought up short with interest turning his gaze back towards Harry with a studied calm demeanor, "What do you mean Harry?"

The boy tossed ten acceptance letters onto the table from schools from Japan, India, Italy or America. Then Harry spoke firmly, "The blood wards were not able to be keyed to the Dursley family Albus. Because of that they have been relying on mine and your life force and magical cores to work. You have been draining your very life to empower the protections there and did not know it. I was giving away my magical strength to strengthen the wards to protect those people. When it comes down to it, I cannot give a punishment to you Albus greater then what you gave to yourself."

The Headmaster suddenly looked a very old man as he became pale at the thought that he had spent years of his own life just to have Harry beaten. A wizard could live a very long time, and he had lived already one hundred and fifty eight years. He did not have much longer, and perhaps far less now. Suddenly Albus felt very old as he swallowed the tea. He looked up with heartbreaking sadness in his eyes instead of the normal twinkle then slowly reached out to touch his gnarled old hand against Harry's hand. "Harry, I cannot make up for what I have done even with a lifetime. I am sorry and I was wrong to have placed you there. I was wrong to seal your parents Will. Even though I thought it was more important to protect you from Death Eaters after Sirius betrayal. You don't know what it was like in those days after the war suddenly ended. I didn't know who I could trust, especially with you. The Malfoy's were trying to claim you as blood relatives as were half a dozen pureblood families. If they had, I don't think we would be here today. I thought at the time protections and a childhood away from all of this would be best."

Harry stated at the headmaster for a long moment then slowly slid across the table before the man the documents from the goblins, "If you had told me anything but the truth I would have thrown you out of the House and never returned. Now, I will give you one chance and I want the truth, the whole truth Albus." The boy paused a brief moment staring at the old man, "Why did Tom target me for attack? What were his reasons?"

The twinkling eyes of the old man met the gaze of Harry and he could swear he felt a shiver down his spine as the Potter family ring felt warm. Then the old man seemed to deflate, "I will give you the truth. Your parents were not the target by Voldemort. It was you Harry. There was a prophecy spoken about you my boy."

Albus swung his gaze towards Tonks with a stern look, "Nymphadora, before I continue you will need to make an oath not to repeat this."

The young woman was about to argue but after a glance at Harry whom nodded she took out her wand and completed a quick oath. Albus turned back to Harry meeting his eyes as spoke.

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord Approaches… born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… And the Dark Lord will mark him his equal, but he will have the power the Dark Lord knows not... either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live with the other survives.."_

The old man finished his words a pin could have fallen and none would have noticed.

Harry just sat there staring at the Headmaster wide eyed. Tonks reached over and grabbed hold of Harry's hand giving it a squeeze. The boy returned it before he stood up and walked away to the living room to stare out of the windows at muggle London. The silence of the room stretched for a good five minutes as Dumbledore and Tonks patiently waited for Harry. Finally, the boy turned and looked back breaking the silence, "Were you going to train me or serve me up as a lamb for slaughter so he might destroy the part he had left in me on the night of my parents death?"

"I would not serve you up for slaughter Harry. Of course I was going to train you. But, I wanted you to have a childhood. I needed you to be mature enough and ready. I had not seen it yet, till this summer. I had only seen a boy and not a man that is ready for this responsibility." The old man spoke up quickly trying to hide his shock that Harry knew of the Horcrux within himself. Even to Dumbledore's own ears the statement sounded hollow and untruth. The old man had tried to hide the tremble from his voice but could not. _When had he gone so far astray? It was true that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely._ He felt as if he was a perfect case. He had let his fame go to his head and this was the price to pay. The old man looked up and met the emerald eye of the young boy and he could see it. Harry knew he had failed him. He could read it from the boy's mind screaming at him in barely restrained fury. He spoke softly, "Then he did leave a fragment behind?"

The situation was enlightening for Harry but for Tonks it was world shattering. She had always believed the Dumbledore could do no wrong. She had been raised by her parents to be skeptical, to question things. But, somehow that rule never applied for her to Dumbledore. Not sitting there was the man that had caused her friend, future brother, and perhaps something else to be terrorized for most of his life. The same man that had been planning to have Harry fight a Dark Lord without any form of proper training. To say Nymphadora Tonks was pissed would be an understatement.

The boy let out a deep breath and shook his head slowly back and forth with a frown. He looked up and met the gaze of the Professor and he could tell that the old man knew that he knew. He dropped that thought before it could get confusing still the fact remained Dumbledore had set him up. Yet, now he was trying to make an effort. He broke the gaze of the man and looked at his teacup to consider.

He had three choices lying before him to consider. He could kick out the Headmaster, end any sort of relationship with the man. This would end up with making the man an enemy, a powerful and dangerous one. Further knowing Dumbledore, the man would start to paint him as falling to the dark and use him for a political end.

The second choice would be to accept the apology of the man, distance himself completely and transfer to another school. Perhaps Imperial in Italy, Mediterranean girls are rather enjoyable to watch. Of course he would need to learn Italian other another language. Then again there was also New Salem in the United States. That could be an interesting school to try out. Still, that would mean abandoning all of his current plans and power bases that he had started to build up. Plus eventually he would need to come back, he couldn't walk away from being a Potter. He had to do it for his father's sake to rebuild his family.

The third option would be to use the old man, gather what he could from him and then find an appropriate punishment. Dumbledore had defeated a Dark Lord, and if one was still out there and going to come back then he might be useful. The man was useful politically and he could twist him for his needs before leaving him to rot. He couldn't trust the man, but that didn't mean he couldn't use him.

Harry sipped his tea then looked up at the Headmaster, "I want your opinion on something before I accept your apology."

He saw the nod of agreement from the Professor so he placed the cup down, "I tried to claim by right of conquest the title of Heir of Slytherin."

The excitement in the eyes of the old man came back as they twinkled. Harry could swear the man licked his lips like a creepy bond villain before he spoke up, "What Happened?"

Harry let out a sigh of frustration, "Something attacked my magic, as if the claim was invalid. I am not certain why my claim failed. What are your thoughts on this Albus?"

Albus studied Harry carefully for a time with a frown of consideration, "It is a quandary. My first thought would be that Voldemort was not the Heir of Slytherin just another Parselmouth. But, the Gaunt family were related to Slytherin. We know that Voldemort lives, even if it is not in human form any longer. There was proof of that first year. It could be that since he is alive in that form you will not be able to claim this right. You did defeat him but it was with the gift of your mother as a child. The protection she had given you through her love. The same protection that defeated Professor Quirell could be considered by the magic to be your mother's victory and not yours. The magic was from Lilly Potter so perhaps the magic of Slytherin House does not view you as defeating Voldemort but instead your mother as the victor. Still she had died prior to this victory so the magic could see the heirship as forfeit to any claim. A disturbing bit of news to consider and something that I may have to research into."

The boy sighed as he stood up again to walk now into the kitchen and get some food. But, soon as he stood Dobby appeared with a platter of muffins and refilled the tea to everyone. Harry sat back down and leaned back into his chair, "Then I believe that we will need to find some common ground to work together. But, if we are to do tis Albus it will be as allies. I will not be controlled again. If I find you life to me, or mislead me, I will walk away from our arrangement. And your pet death eater will behave himself to me for now on understood?"

The old man smiled at the boy not wanting to argue about Snape at the moment, as he knew that it could ruin everything, "That is most wise my boy. I am glad to see you are indeed growing up. I half expected you to hear the prophecy and decide to blow up the place in anger. You do have your mother's temper."

Harry watched Dumbledore pluck another piece of muggle chocolate to enjoy. He gave a smile back to the man, if forced before speaking up, "I would like your support on the matter that I mentioned at the trial."

The piece of chocolate was placed back down on the wrapper as Dumbledore looked at the boy sadly, "Harry, that is another reason for my visit today. It appears that Sirius Black has escaped Azkaban to join his Dark Lord. He may be coming after you Harry."

The long black locks of hair flipped back and forth as Harry shook his head with a frown, "No, He wouldn't. He was not my parent's secret keeper. Pettigrew was their secret keeper. Sirius was imprisoned for the wrong reasons."

For the second time that day the Headmaster was surprised by the young man, "Why do you believe that my boy?"

"My mother left a journal, it is blood encrypted so you would not be able to view it. But, she details many things including who is the secret keeper for her and father. She also wrong up to the moments before Voldemort came for me. " The boy paused as he frowned deeply, "Sirius Black is innocent of crimes against my family and he never received a trial."

The Headmaster frown deepened as he considered the words, "He is still a killer of those muggles and Peter."

A matching frown was plainly visible on Harry's face, "We don't know that for certain without a trial. If Peter was a Death Eater he could have been capable of anything."

A sip of tea was drawn from the cup of Dumbledore as he considered the information that boy provided. There was no proof that could be provided to support his claims still this was a matter he needed to show trust. If had failed Sirius by not forcing Crouch to have a trial he would have convicted an innocent man to insanity. Plus if he was able to help free Sirius he could be useful in the future as the Lord of House Black. "I will do what I can Harry but the Minister is already setting up plans of his own. I will try to get him a trial as soon as he is captured. That way the truth will come out and he can be freed."

"Thank you Albus. I am sure that the Black Family would appreciate that. "The words came from Tonks instead of Harry surprising the old man as he had forgotten she was present with his concentration on Harry. The girl should be a black, another useful and interesting possibility. This was indeed too useful politically to keep his hands off of. Dumbledore spoke up, "We will do what we can to resolve the issue peacefully. Speaking of family Harry, did you decide whom you want to be adopted by for the next few years?"

A bite of muffin saved the boy a few moments to think before answering, "Well I have narrowed the list down to the Tonks, Longbottom or Diggory families. All three are very nice and have added benefits. But, I want to wait till after Christmas to decide. I was hoping that Sirius would be free by then."

The old man could feel a touch of sadness in the voice of the boy when he spoke of his godfather, "You could consider the Weasley family. I believe Molly wanted to put in for you, and they are a good light family."

A forced smile touched the lips of Harry as he looked up to Dumbledore, "The Weasley family is a good light family Albus. But, I wouldn't choose them for a few reasons. I would prefer my family's traditional allies, and I could not be sane under Ms. Weasley's mothering for that long. She is a sweet woman but a little strong willed for my taste."

A bit of amusement danced in the eyes of the Headmaster as he stood up. While the Weasley family was a supporter and allied house of Dumbledore it was true that they had never been of the Potters. The Potters always seemed to ally more with neutral houses till the last few wars. Strange House Potter numbers seemed to drop only after the change of alignment. He could understand the boy's decision and he knew that if he pressed today it would only ruin the progress that he had made, "I understand the sentiment. I believe in school we may be able to arrange some extra lessons. Provided your grades improve from previous years? I saw that you have signed up for Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures, and Arithmancy."

Harry smiled politely to the old man, "Now that I understand what it means to be a Potter. I feel I have an obligation to live up to my ancestors. I would welcome the extra lessons any of the professors except for Snape could provide to me."

Albus picked up the bag of muggle candies and walked over to Fawkes, "I believe it is time to depart as I have taken up a lot of your day already. Please enjoy your summer Harry. It was good to see you too Nymphadora." He touched to Fawkes then in a flash and bang both were gone from the flat.

After the old man departed Harry turned to look at Nymph with a frown, "Something tells me this will be an interesting year back at Hogwarts. I fear I will not be able to get away from all of his manipulations until I am strong enough to position myself and those I care about far away from his claws. But, I will deal with that bastard someday once and for all."

Nymph stepped next to Harry and gave his shoulder a squeeze, "We will get there Harry. I promise I will be there for you whenever you need me."

The boy smiled brightly looking at the beautiful girl, whom always confused him, at his side. Then he leaned up to give her a small kiss on the cheek. "Thank you Nymph. You don't know how much that means to me."

The girl stepped back and grabbed his hand with a grin, "Come lets go blow something up. It will make you smile."

A week before returning too Hogwarts, Harry was again sitting on the couch studying after his morning workout. The runic powered record player was playing an old Pink Floyd album that they had purchased while Nymph was again performing her wonderfully seductive yoga workout. Harry swore to god he would miss this workout each day. Nothing said good morning like a metamorph in a spandex doing yoga. Perhaps he could find a travel pensive just to relive the memory when there was a need. Still, there was nothing more he could ask for in the world then to sit there relaxing as he watched the girl go through her thrusting and limber exercises.

Of course this peace and quiet, like his naps, could not last. It was interrupted this time by a pounding at the door from an angry young woman whose voice echoed with a scream, "HARRY JAMES POTTER! You open this door right away!"

Harry grabbed his wand and pointed it at the door, activating the one way mirror rune. Through the door all Harry could see at first was a mass of bushy brown hair. Then he could see the pale skin of the young woman standing around five foot three outside of the flat. The voice and appearance could only belong to one person. He turned to look at Tonks and cringed, "I think I forgot to write to her all summer."

"Don't worry little brother, I will protect you." Tonks smiled towards Harry as she stood up and walked to the door. Slowly she opened it up with her wand drawn and leveled right at the girl, "Name?"

If Hermione had expected anything this morning, it was not to be held at wand point by a young woman with neon pink hair and wearing a 1980s leotard. She stuttered softly, "Hermione Jean Granger Miss."

The wand of Tonks swirled around slowly in a circle glowing on the tip, "and why are you looking for Heir Potter Ms. Granger?"

A thin bead of sweat formed on the forehead of Hermione as she spoke, "I wanted to see my friend and I was told by the Headmaster that he was here in London. He didn't bother to visit or write back to me all summer and I wanted to know why."

"A friend comes up screaming out the name of a boy and pounding on the door to wake the neighborhood? Did you know he is in hiding and under Auror protection?" The brow of the older teenager rose as it turned fiery red along with the red of her hair. "How do I know that you are Hermione Granger and not someone out to harm Harry Potter?"

The girl slowly pulled out her wand and raised it up into the air. She was very aware of the wand pointed directly at her face by Tonks. "I swear on my magic that I am Hermione Jean Granger and I am not under the Imperius spell. So mote it be." She finished then flicked her wand to cast a luminous.

The red hair flipped back to pink as Tonks studied the girl, "I couldn't help but notice that you didn't promise not harm him."

The busy haired girl smiled at the Auror, "I owe him for not writing to me. Now let me see him."

Tonks stepped to the side as Hermione swept into the room and ran straight at Harry wrapping him into one of her bone crushing hugs. She was surprised when he returned the hug; normally Harry was adverse to all physical contact. She leaned back and smacked him across the cheek before she whispered softly, "You are alright. I never heard back from any of the letters that I sent to you. I even went to look at your House in Privet Drive but it was gone. Someone turned it into a parking lot! I was sure something bad had happened to you!"

The hug felt good to Harry, he didn't realize till now how much he had missed his friend. He closed his eyes to enjoy the warm embrace, which led directly to him being surprised when he felt the smack across the left cheek. The smack he had honestly deserved. Even though the Ministry reviewing all letters and packages to him, the expected delay was three months till they were cleaned. He should hopefully get his birthday gifts by Christmas. Harry reached up to rub his cheek with a smile, "I deserved that for not writing. I was supposed to be hiding till the trial and then afterwards I was force to keep hidden after the escape of my godfather. I am sorry Hermione."

He felt another crushing embrace as she tried to squeeze the life out of him. The pair separated as they heard the clearing of a throat then Tonk's voice, "I think I will get some food for lunch together for us all Harry, why don't you catch up with your friend."

For some reason he felt in the back of his mind that Tonks was angry or perhaps jealous? He watched her stalk away into the kitchen and he couldn't determine why. After all this was Hermione, she was his sister in all but blood. Harry shook off the thoughts then dragged the girl over to the couch to sit and talk. "Well this summer has been a long story Hermione. If I tell you everything I am sure you can keep a secret though."

The girl sat down next to him and smiled, "I won't tell a soul Harry, you can trust me. If it is a long story then let's start the beginning."

"Alright, I will." He smiled then started to tell Hermione of all that had happened to him lately. He explained to her what took place at Hogwarts after the end of the term. They spoke about the attempted murder of Lord Malfoy, the vision and destruction of his scar. He talked to her about the trip to Gringotts, the Greengrass family, and his godfather. He went into particular details about Dumbledore's plans, the Dursley family and his life prior to Hogwarts. He was very careful to illustrate exactly what Dumbledore was responsible for and had admitted to him. He knew her penchant for following authority figures and seeing them do no wrong. So he needed her to understand everything. Even a bit about the prophecy was shared with her.

Tonks came back into the apartment with some take out Chinese food and placed it down before but didn't interrupt the tale. She simply sat down at his other side and listened to him spill his guts about his life to Hermione.

Hermione had suspicions about Harry's home life and questions over why he was not more like the Potters in the books in the library but never had asked. Harry was a closed individual. He was one that would save a life before he would share about himself. Still, she knew him better then anyone in the world as he always shared more with her. Now though he was pouring it all out.

Harry finally was starting to let go. E was letting out all of the anger, rage, and pain of his young life so far. He was actually opening up to the two girls that were with him in the room. In a way each of them were special and unique to him. It was a strange feeling for the-boy-who-lived to feel loved and feel safe.

When he finished he looked up and smiled to the two girls as he felt each of them uncertain for the response. He didn't have to wait long as they each latched onto him and squeezed him into a hug. A bushy haired mess of hair on his right side and a pink haired vixen on his left, both were squeezing his bones till they creaked. Harry was amazed at these two and did the only thing he could think of to express his wonder. He hugged them back.

**Author Note: I hope you liked this chapter. I brought out a few of Dumbledore's thoughts on why Harry couldn't become the Heir of Slytherin. I will let you all decide yourself the reason and see what happens in the future of the story. I didn't want to make a bashing Dumbledore in this story. Instead I think I made a manipulative old man that wants to be good and thinks he good. Hopefully he comes off as politically cunning enough that his schemes will adapt along with his goals. As interesting for the future as this chapter was (besides the fluff), next chapter will be far more long term effecting. As always let me know your thoughts and thank you for reading.**


	10. A dark train ride

**The Shadow of the Wizarding World**

**By: Jamnaz79**

**Beta: Winged Seer Wolf **

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

_Note: I do not own Harry Potter for the book, movies, etc etc etc._

_**-SotWW-**_

_Harry finally was starting to let go. He was letting out all of the anger, rage, and pain of his young life so far. He was actually opening up to the two girls that were with him in the room. In a way each of them were special and unique to him. It was a strange feeling for the-boy-who-lived to feel loved and feel safe._

_When he finished he looked up and smiled to the two girls as he felt each of them uncertain for the response. He didn't have to wait long as they each latched onto him and squeezed him into a hug. A bushy haired mess of hair on his right side and a pink haired vixen on his left, both were squeezing his bones till they creaked. Harry was amazed at these two and did the only thing he could think of to express his wonder. He hugged them back._

The last week of summer before heading back to Hogwarts went by quickly. Hermione's parents actually lived not too far from the flat. So she was over every day after Harry and Tonks completed their work outs. They would spend a few hours a day reading different books that were acquired from Harry's vault. Normally Harry would just further read the journals of his mother to learn more about his parents. Hermione was in heaven at some of the aged books for master's level charms that Harry's mother had stored away.

A few times they went shopping in muggle London and explored London's famous sights and museums. Hermione was a walking Fromer's encyclopedia. She knew dates, facts from different uses of the rooms of the Tower of London to the names of paints found on museum walls. For Harry it was a first time he ever had been shown this type of culture. He had only see the dark side of the muggle world, namely his cupboard. The trio even managed to take in a play. Harry and Tonks loved the guided tours and had a blast exploring London with Hermione.

Finally, the day of the train back to Hogwarts arrived which found Harry, Kingsley, and Tonks at the station early. They were the first to arrive for the day but it didn't bother Harry none. It at least gave him time to say goodbye and relax without the stares that always seemed to follow him. Plus it was nice not to be rushing and late like he was the first two times traveling to Hogwarts.

Harry shook hands with Kingsley with a bright smile, "Thank you Kingsley. I am in your debt for seeing me taken care of over the summer. If there is anything I can ever do to assist you please just let me know."

The bright smile was shined back to the young man from the Auror, "Thank you Harry. It has been a pleasure to guard you this summer. I will remember that favor and someday cash it in."

The boy couldn't help but chuckle warmly, "Indeed, perhaps I can hire you away from the Ministry someday."

Harry slowly turned from the dark skinned man to look at the pink haired girl with a smile, "Going to miss me?"

Harry received a light punch in the arm for the question, followed immediately by a hug. While not a Hermione squeeze till you can't breathe hug. Nymph's hug instead was far squishier at the chest, which Harry enjoyed immensely. Since they were in public Harry resisted the urge to tease the older girl with a wandering pinch and settled for a smile and whisper, "Winter Holiday's Nymph?"

The young woman smiled back to the teenager, "You going to work out and follow the regime that I gave you?"

He offered his best grin towards her, "Everything but Yoga. Tights fit you better."

"I will tell Mom and Dad to expect you. It should be fun and perhaps I will come to visit you on a Hogsmede weekend. Just write to me when you have one." The smile was genuine for Tonks as it reached into her eyes looking at the young man whom confused her. She knew he was far too young, but he looked almost her age and acted it normally. Sometimes she felt like a muggle cartoon she saw once with a little talking duck had with a devil and angel on his shoulder arguing over what to do. For now the angel won out. But, no matter what Harry was to her in the future, there was the simple fact that he was important to her. The young man was a kindred spirit to her, both a metamorphmagus, very few of which were found in England. The young man had found a way to grow into her heart. She gave Harry a single kiss on the cheek and whispered, "Go have some fun with the ladies. I expect some good stories when you get back at winter time."

One last hug to the older teenager was given by Harry where he did give a quick pinch to a pert backside before he turned and quickly entered the train. His luggage had already been delivered by Dobby who arrived and disappeared with a pop after Harry had gotten there. The elf was already at Hogwarts getting ready to look after his master, an added protection for the boy. He would be the only elf to prepare Harry's meals and check his clothing and room over.

An advantage of arriving early was that Harry had the choice of apartments. So he went to his normal compartment at the end of the train. But, when he got there the door was already open and a man was passed out sleeping on the bench. Something about the sight of the man tingle the back of his mind but the youth quickly shook it off. Deciding not to be a bother to the man, Harry turned to the next compartment down and settled down there. He un-shrunk his trunk, quickly removing his runes books, a few records and his shrunken portable record player out of his trunk. Then he slide the trunk away, plopped on a Led Zeppelin record that Tonks had given him then settled down to relax and read.

Harry fired he had a good hour before the earliest of the arrivals would show up. Which gave him about two hours till the platform started to get very busy. And of course it would be around three hours till the Weasley clan would show up minutes before the train started to depart. It was tradition after all; they were always the last to arrive. He wondered briefly if he could tease Ron if that was his families' slogan. But, knowing his best mate it might make the red head boy a bit too upset. He did have to say he was looking forward to hearing stories about Ron and his family's trip to Egypt. The idea of visiting tombs of powerful wizards and Pharaohs sounded amazing. Perhaps someday it would be possible for him, for now he had other concerns, like staying alive.

The book for Runes was extremely interesting. This book was actually not the standard third year Runes book for class but a supplemental book that Harry had found in his family vault for learning to use runes. He had already read the standard book of class and found it intriguing. So he figured he might as well use his new resource and had Dobby acquire multiple other early level books on Runes from the family vault to study over. The ideas and concepts for Runes was amazing, it was truly a unique version of spellcasting.

Harry found it fascinating the idea of making something unique that could survive him, if he didn't make it. After all, he was the last Potter and he needed to make a statement. Hopefully, it would be a statement for the restarting of his family tradition and tree and someday he would die around two to three hundred with many times many great grandchildren. Of course, there was a higher possibility whatever he accomplished could be the last act of greatness of the Potter family.

Runes gave Harry that possibility, they had the amazing ability to help create something that would out survive him and his magic. He could use them to empower his wishes into almost anything. Harry loved the idea of someday taking some of the muggle items and turn them into Wizarding things like Haggard's motorcycle. He was already planning as soon as he picked up enough knowledge to make one of his own. He also was curious about the possibilities of using runes to hold energies, or to allow locomotion to items like his record player. Of course, Harry was aiming higher then just bikes or trinkets to foster a business in the Wizarding World. He wanted to figure out something grand, something special that would change the way the Wizarding World was run. He didn't know what he would do yet, but he felt it in his bones that Runes was the way to get there.

So Harry had read ahead on the Runes textbooks, already memorizing the standard Celtic and Norse runes in the school books and learning the first full year of the subject. He was now working on his mother's third year notes on the subject and starting the fourth year textbooks he picked up to get ahead. He knew he was only beginning a journey that would take years to truly show fruits of his labor but he couldn't help but feel it was worth it. Actually, in the summer with the help of Nymph he had been able to learn most of the concepts from Transfiguration, Charms, DADA, and Runes. It just felt to him almost as if he had studied the knowledge before. He seemed to pick up the subjects faster then before even though he would start a new charm. Instead of it being a task to learn it felt more like a review. Would that have been from the rings? Or from what happened at the end of the school year? Or was it just applying to learn something in a way to actually was fun, and enjoyable as he did with Nymph?

His thoughts of the semester work was interrupted by the door opening. Normally when he saw the bleach blonde hair of the boy walking into the room on the train he would cringe inside with annoyance. But, in this case he had been honestly looking forward to seeing Draco Malfoy. The young man was without his two sidekicks this day, he still had the arrogance written on his face that he was famous for. But, there was a difference lingering in the eyes. The eyes now knew what it was to lose in the Wizarding world, they understood perhaps a little of what so many before him had felt from his father's actions. Perhaps it was a new day for Draco and he would be a different man. Of course, it could have been just gas.

The young man was slid the door closed behind him then turned and looked at Harry. A moment of silence as the two rivals stared at each other than Harry figured it was better to break the ice and motioned to the seat across from him, "Cousin, please come sit with me."

He waited till the blonde haired pureblood took his seat, while offering a polite smile to the boy, "I understand this is not our usual style of meeting. I hope your mother explained to you the details of our working relationship for now and into the future?"

After a nod from the boy Harry continued. "I know you may not believe me but I am sorry for your loss. I also expressed to your mother that I am sorry when we originally met that I did not take your hand as friend. I was not aware of how it is viewed in our society to publically ignore a hand of friendship. For that you have my apologies Draco. I can only plead ignorance due to the environment that I was forced to be raised in."

The young Slytherin studied Harry in silence for a few long moments before speaking, "I accept your apologies. I do not know if I can ever forget your role in my father's death but I can recognize that it was his choices that started the conflict with you. The past can't be forgotten Potter, but perhaps we can change things for the future."

Draco seemed to come out of his shell more as he spoke, "My mother explained to me the situation from first year. I did not know at the time you had been forced to live with a disgusting group of muggles. It only shows how they are truly much of lower level creatures they are then us. It is understandable to not be aware of traditions to our society due to that. But, you have been learning now about the proper etiquette?"

The dark haired boy smiled politely to his counterpart, "Thank you Draco. I have been learning but it will take time to truly understand everything that is different where I was…forced to be raised. Perhaps in the future if I have a question or concern I could call on you to straight out the correct, proper way to look at something?"

Harry watched the nod and smile from the blonde haired boy giving a smile in return, "Now for this year and onwards I don't expect us to suddenly become best of friends. But, perhaps a truce of cursing one another might be best? I do not mind keeping our rivalry if you do not. It would look odd otherwise."

The blonde haired boy studied Harry for a time then offered a forced smile. A part of Harry's mind recalled for a brief moment again the look of loss and defeat in the eyes of his rival. Too much had happened for them to become close, but he was family so shouldn't they at least try? He never had family before, so really he was uncertain.

Harry was drawn from his thoughts as he heard Draco's voice speak up, "That is acceptable Potter."

The boy reached down and slowly drew out his wand holding it aloft before him as he spoke, "I, Draco Malfoy, do swear on my life and magic that I will not seek revenge for the death of my father on House Potter. I agree to accept all of the terms of the alliance that my Head of House agreed to between our two Houses. Furthermore I shall not seek harm to House Potter, so mote it be."

Harry smiled at the other young man, a little mischief leaked into his eyes, "Good now please just tell me when the magic of the contract takes effect to change you into a woman so we can consummate the marriage."

The eyes of Draco popped out of his head as his mouth fell open in shock at the words. Harry pressed on with the same innocent smile, "Didn't your mother tell you that part of the contract? You are to become my bride? I think I have it here somewhere."

Harry stared to reach into his robes and slowly drew out a copy of the contract with the signatures of Narcissa and himself. He unrolled it and held it out for Draco to see clause number ten. It listed that Draco would take magical potions for a change of sex and accept servitude and marriage to House Potter.

The fact that Draco Malfoy was a very pale young man was not lost on the whole of Hogwarts. He was a pureblood and it was a matter of pride to have such unblemished traditional skin tone of nobility. But, the fact that at this moment he was whiter then nearly headless Nick was enjoyable for Harry to see. Still, he could only take this too far before he gave the boy a heart attack.

Feeling that the joke had gone too far Harry smiled and ripped up the fake contract with a chuckle. He after all did have a large breakfast and while the amusement of torture was enjoyable, the idea of being married to Draco was something to lose one's lunch. Add to the fact that Draco looked to be crossed between fleeing and having a stroke and Harry knew it had been enough torture for one day. "Draco, I am kidding."

The fear and shock left the eyes of Draco as he quickly became angry and glared at Harry, "I will get you for that Potter."

Those words brought a sense of rightness to the universe for Harry. He had to fight to keep from laughing but he somehow managed. "I am sorry, but I could not resist. Your mother did suggest a marriage contract but it was more between our future children for political reasons."

The blonde haired boy calmed down but his eyes still lingered with a glare that showed he would find a way to get revenge on Harry for the prank, "She told me. We will cross that road when we get there. Is there any message that needs to be communicated to her?"

The dark haired boy considered for a time as his right hand rose to slide through his long hair. A habit he had been forming over the summer that he did whenever he had to think something over carefully, "Just tell her that I have decided whom will represent me in the Wizengamot and I believe she will enjoy the sight of my choice."

Draco nodded his head in understanding then glanced out at the train station as it was filling up with people, "I must depart, we do not want to be seen like this. I will contact you if anything important comes up."

Harry rose to stand and offered his right hand to the boy, "and I will do the same for you."

The blonde Slytherin stared at the hand offered for a few moments then took it with a shake before he turned to depart the room.

As the door slid open Harry called out, "Draco a favor before you go. Please don't call Hermione that anymore. She is my friend and I consider her my sister."

Draco glanced back over his shoulder at Potter as he studied the boy. He considered the statement earlier of his ignorance and let out a sigh, "If you consider her a sister then make her one Potter. You have that power, but true to have her understand our society better. A mudblood is not just a muggleborn. It is a muggleborn that flaunts her culture and ignores our ways believing us to be wrong. She needs to learn more than just spells to be a witch."

After those words the young heir left the cabin leaving Harry to his quiet thoughts. He plucked up the runes book and tried to flip through it but instead he couldn't get the ending words of Draco out of his mind. Was she just as prejudice of the magical world as the purebloods were of her?

It was just moments before the train left when the door opened and a ginger haired boy and bushy haired girl pushed into the compartment. Both were, of course, fighting together. This time the argument was about them being late and hot was it all Ronald's fault. Harry stood up and helped both put up their trunks. He didn't say a word as he just let them bicker. He had learned a while ago not to get into the middle of these two which fought like an old married couple.

Finally, twenty minutes later Ron turned to look at Harry and blinked. He spoke up right away starting to ramble, "Bloody Hell! You look different! You are telling then I am. Your hair is longer than a pureblood and you even lose your scar! What happened to you Harry? Mom said you were fine after the end of last year before we left. But then I was told you caused the death of Malfoy's dad! Bloody brilliant move to get rid of him Harry. I was told by Mum she wants to adopt you, wouldn't it be great to be brothers?"

The rambling was interrupted only by two brief calls for language by the bushy haired girl. Still, a part of Harry couldn't help but smile. It was good to be back with his two best friends. He gave the other boy a bright smile, "It is good to see you too Ron. I have missed you mate. How was Egypt?"

Any with that question the ginger haired boy was again easily sidetracked from his own questions and started to talk about Egypt. The family had visited Bill, his older brother who worked for Gringotts. He was assigned to Egypt because of all of the tombs there and according to Ron he was part cursebreaker and part Indiana Jones. It seemed the clan had traveled from there to visiting Charlie. Charlie was another of Ron's older brothers whom was in Hungry. Charlie had taken up the career of working with dragons. Ron, it seemed, go to help him at the range some so the next hour was spent just telling about how he had somehow managed to save his brother from being eaten by a nesting mother dragon.

In the meantime, Hermione added bits of information of her own trip over the summer in addition to correcting Ron about facts from Hungry and Egypt. Part of Harry wondered if it was strange that she seemed to know more of the trip and places that Ron had visited then Ron did. Then again she did always seem to know a bit about everything so he shrugged it off.

Eventually Harry did have to talk about his summer. He explained bits and pieces to Ron from what went on. He let him know the basics of his life with his relatives and early years. He tried to keep out most of the information and had to give a few meaningful looks at Hermione when she was going to ask questions that he didn't want her to. It was not that he didn't trust Ron, but whatever he told the boy would find it's way to Ron's mother and eventually Dumbledore. Since the situation was still a possible future blackmail topic for the headmaster, he didn't want wide information about his situation to become known. Else it would be more difficult to someday press charges if he needed to, it wouldn't have the shock value. He had after all already picked out the Prophet headline "Chief Warlock condemns child Boy-who-lived to life of torture." It certainly did have a ring of removal for the old man, but that could wait till there was no other choice.

Hermione broke into a conversation about recent quidditch games with a question, "So Harry who are you going to live with after this year?"

A grimace came over his lips as Harry didn't want to discuss the topic for now, "I am not sure Hermione. I am leaning towards the Tonks family. But, I am hoping that I can prove Sirius is innocent. I just don't know how to go about it."

The ginger frowned at the idea as he fed some cheese from his mother's packed sandwich to his pet rat, Scabbers, "Are you sure he is innocent Harry? Maybe your mother was wrong. Dumbledore is normally correct on these things and my mother told me that he is who got Sirius thrown in Azkaban so quickly without a trial. Him and the old minister Baghold along with Crouch Senior put away Sirius quickly. I overhead them talking about it a few nights ago what took place with your parents before coming to school. He seemed very certain that Sirius wasn't innocent to me. Plus, he did kill Pettigrew."

Harry resisted the urge to growl at the idea of Dumbledore and what he might be planning. He reminded himself that he would need to get word of the situation to Cyrus and Narcissa. Instead of arguing he gave a smile that didn't reach his eyes, "I am sure Ron. And if he didn't kill Pettigrew, I would do it myself."

The bushy haired girl spoke up with a frown, "Harry James Potter, you should not be saying that. Besides I know you wouldn't take a life."

The dark haired boy raised an eyebrow to answer back but cut off his reply as the train came to sudden full stop. The sounds of luggage rumbling or falling echoed down the hallways. Harry felt the train rock as if something just got onto the train near his compartment. It was then that he noticed the windows, they started to mist up almost as if is they were freezing over. The air rising from under the doorway suddenly acquired a bitter cold, almost as if jumping out of a lake on a cold morning and getting hit by the wind. Harry could feel his breath frosting over as he breathed out slowly and deeply. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Scabbers flee to hide under the bench desperately getting away from the door. The boy slowly stood up and drew his wand at ready, "Get ready something is not right here."

Hermione shivered as she stood up and moved towards the doorway, "I will check what is going on. Perhaps a Prefect will know."

Harry saw her moving and started to step towards her but he couldn't move his feet. It felt like they were jello and would not respond to his will. Instead he yelled out for Hermione, "No, don't go near the doorway!"

But it was too late as she unlocked the door and it slid open. A massive black cloaked form floated towards them from the hallway. The being emanated evil that seeped from it to fill the train and compartments. The cold was more bitter then the harshest Siberian winter and chilled to the bone. But, it was the feelings and emotions that were startling. It felt as if all of the happiness and warmth in the world left his body. It was almost as if the world lost the brightness of the day and faded to dim. His breath escaped is body and his eyes rolled up into his head as Harry started to feel faint.

Distantly Harry registered a scream that belonged to Hermione. The black creature was reaching forward to try to grab hold of her. Before it could reach her Rob jumped towards her grabbing hold of the back of her blouse and flung her back into Harry. But, the dementor grappled hold of Ron's arms with dark boney, clawed fingertips. The creature seemed a mass of black robes and shriveled up skin with eyes burning red as two stars in a deep dark night. Harry felt helpless as his vision faded fully and he slipped into the darkness.

The darkness was fleeting for Harry. Instead he heard a woman's scream echoing through his mind. The first time he couldn't place the words but he knew that voice. He had felt it before when he was attacked. It was the voice of his mother crying out, "Not my Harry! Anything but my Harry! You can't have him!" Then the death scream would echo through his mind as he felt a blast of neon green light before his vision.

AS soon as the sounds would stop it would start again repeatedly tormenting him. "Not my Harry! Anything but my Harry! You can't have him!"

It was the fifth time that he noticed something was different. The voice was replaced by Hermione screaming, "Not Ron! No, you can't have him!"

The dark haired boy willed his eyes open as he awoke from being a crumpled up mass on the ground. He saw a vision that would haunt his dreams for decades to come. Ronald Weasley was held up in the hair by the grasp of the dementor. The creature's head was tilted downwards at an angle with his lips sealed to Ron's. Terror and pain was written over the face of his best mate. He could see it; a blur in his vision of light. The spirit or soul of Ron's life was leaving into the dread creature of darkness.

Harry's body reacted on it's own. He flung himself from the ground, dropping his wand in the process as he sprinted towards the doorway and the creature holding his friend. He didn't feel or notice as he leaped over the terror ridden form of Hermione on the ground. He only felt the anger, righteous anger burning in his heart as he saw the demon drop the lifeless body of his best friend to the ground.

It seemed unconscious or even he was controlled by something else as the boy drew back his right arm reading back almost to stab the dementor. When it was cocked back the ring on is right hand of the House of Golge shattered reforming into a long thin black dagger seen in the vault. Harry felt the shadows in the room stream from the compartment. The filled a stream in the light pulled from every corner of the room to wrap around Harry's right arm rolling from the shoulder down to the glistening blade.

The young man landed before the dementor and thrust his right arm upwards towards the head of the creature. The startled dark monster of nightmares didn't move as it had just dropped it's finished meal. Harry felt the blade pierce the part of the neck which meet the head of the beast tearing through the wrinkled flesh as if it was dry old parchment. The blade slid through the wrinkled mass of dead skin swiftly upward slam through the brain cavity to exit the top of the head of the beast.

A screech of the dead echoed from the cabin down the halls of the train. The pain filled cry sounded like sweet music to Harry even as his ears started to bleed from the pain of the death call. The sound was horrendous as the creature looked down into the eyes of the boy with utter terror at its fate. For a brief second the thought passed through Harry's mind that it wouldn't die, it would consume him with its anger and pain. Then the dementor started to break apart into black flakes of cloth and dusted bones fell to the ground in a pile.

Harry breathed deeply as he looked over the fallen creature he had destroyed. No idea of what he had done or how he had done it. He blinked and then felt the shadows abandoning him as he breathed deeply once, twice, then passed out falling to the ground. For the second time Harry fell unconscious in the compartment, this time no longer in mortal danger. Just before his head hit the ground as he fell he was caught by that strange man that he saw before and felt so familiar. He heard the man whisper, "James..." Then the boy was lost to the darkness again.

The bed was so very soft and warm when he awoke. He didn't remember going to sleep in any bed, actually he didn't remember anything after getting on the train. Perhaps this bed was somehow as part of the train compartment? Did Hermione make a bed with transfiguration? Harry shivered under the warmth of the blanket as he felt a cold hand touch to his forehead. Slowly, painfully aware of the shining light of the room Harry cracked opened his eyes to peer at the woman standing over him.

Truly, it must be a record that Harry Potter somehow managed to end last year in the infirmary and now started this year in the infirmary. Madam Pomfrey was the woman standing over him and he could see her checking his vitals carefully. He cracked open his dried lips and spoke in a whisper, "Hello."

The stern woman pressed her lips together as she looked down in disappointment at Harry. But, he could swear that there was a touch of sadness in her eyes, "Mr. Potter, I didn't expect to see you right away to start the semester. I figured you would at least give me a week. But, fighting Dementor's child? What are you going to do next year, dragons?"

The word dementors was a light switch flicking on in realization for his mind. Those evil, vile creatures that attacked them on the train were dementors! He shivered then looked around in fright, as the memory of his mother's voice screaming for him to be saved crept over his mind. He whispered softly, "The Dementors…"

His mouth felt like it was filled with cotton as he voiced his question, "Is it still alive?"

The voice that answered his question was not Madam Pomfrey but instead the Headmaster as he exited a curtain in the Hospital Wing. "That one that attacked you is not alive anymore Harry."

Harry swiveled his eyes towards the Headmaster, the sound of his voice held sadness. The same sadness was filling his eyes as he looked at Harry. The boy felt his heart jerk as Dumbledore's eyes looked old, dreary at a loss of their shining twinkle.

The man walked over to the side of Harry's bed and sat down. Slowly the Headmaster reached out and gently took hold of the boy's hand as he spoke softly, "Harry, I have some news to tell you."

The boy looked up to meet the gaze of the Headmaster and knew what the news was. He could feel it in his bones as the battle started to play over and over again in his head. His lips parted as he gasped softly, "No."

The grandfatherly man gave a squeeze to the hand of the boy. But, he continued in a soft voice despite the protest spoken by the youth, "I am afraid that Mr. Weasley did not survive the attack on the train."

**Author Note: I hope too many people don't dislike the way this chapter went. It was always my plan for this to happen on the train. Not because of a dislike for Ron as a character but because it fit the story properly. I hope any of the folks that enjoy the Weasley's will not be too upset. I also hope you liked a bit of the power-he-knows-not being shown. It wont come up too much for a while but it will eventually play a good sized part in the story. Year three will be different then the books and I expect it to go by rather swiftly. Please let me know your thoughts good and bad. I always welcome them.**

**AN2: I am also looking for a 2nd Beta. I know that WSW and myself both miss things sometimes. I would love to get further assistance for the story. Thank you all for your support and enjoyment for it so far.**

**J**


	11. Aftermath

**The Shadow of the Wizarding World**

**By: Jamnaz79**

**Beta: Winged Seer Wolf **

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

_Note: I do not own Harry Potter for the book, movies, etc etc etc._

_**-SotWW-**_

_The man walked over to the side of Harry's bed and sat down. Slowly the Headmaster reached out and gently took hold of the boy's hand as he spoke softly, "Harry, I have some news to tell you."_

_The boy looked up to meet the gaze of the Headmaster and knew what the news was. He could feel it in his bones as the battle started to play over and over again in his head. His lips parted as he gasped softly, "No."_

_The grandfatherly man gave a squeeze to the hand of the boy. But, he continued in a soft voice despite the protest spoken by the youth, "I am afraid that Mr. Weasley did not survive the attack on the train."_

Harry sat alone on the banks of the Black Lake as he watched the giant squid swim around just as the sun started to set. He had been sitting here for two hours since he got back from the ceremony. The day had been overcast and windy, fitting for his feelings. The wind ripped off of the lake to brush his dark hair about; unconsciously Harry shortened it to his old short messy patch. His eyes were dried out by the wind yet it did not stop the tears.

Part of Harry wondered if the year could get any worse. The other part of him was worried that he just cursed himself with this thought. He mostly doubted it was possible to be a worse start of the year then he had so far. Hell, it was not every day that you find out that one of your best friends died to try to save you. It was a shock and burned into his heart and soul the words of the Headmaster. Harry slowly closed his eyes feeling the wind kiss against his skin as he thought of the past two days.

Flashback

"I am sorry Harry for your loss. I know that Ronald truly meant a lot to you." The aged Headmaster spoke up as he gave a squeeze to the shocked arm of the boy.

For a moment Dumbledore wondered if he had broken the child as Harry sat there unblinking and seeming not to even breathe. The only way to tell that the young man was alive was the eyes of the boy flicking back and forth about the infirmary seeming to look for escape. The shock seemed to fade from the boy as he spoke a single word

"Why?"

Albus leaned back into his chair and stared down at the boy with a frown, "We all have our times to go Harry. He went to the next adventure. Asking why someone is taken is something that even the greatest of minds have wondered. I cannot give you that answer. I only hope to know that he touched our lives and changed us…."

The words of Albus stopped suddenly as he felt the hand of the boy grab to his arm. The grip of the boy squeezed to the point that it was painful on his old wrinkled flesh. The voice that came from Harry was no longer a silent whisper as he spoke, "I don't care of that flowery rhetoric. I want to know why the demons were on the train."

To say that he was taken aback would be an understatement for Albus Dumbledore. First, rarely would someone speak to him that tone or way. Second, the child asked a question that difficult for him to answer, or at least answer and not bring down Harry's ire. While he paused a moment to consider his reply, Harry could see into the eyes of the old man. The boy knew that he was going to give some polite answer that fed nothing to the truth, the old man's tell was getting obvious after the repeated lies. "Harry, the Dementors were placed there for your own protections."

The emerald eyes of the boy hardened as he narrowed his gaze at the old man, "And what were they protecting us from Albus?" The boys words took on an edge that could break apart a diamond as voice seemed to fall to the point that the Headmaster's name was spoken in a whisper. It was a very deadly whisper that could cause a shiver to run up the spine.

The ancient Headmaster withdrew his arm from the boy's grasp resisting the urge to rub it where it was marked. Then he spoke calmly, "Your godfather Harry, remember he is an escaped convict."

The boy did not flinch at the statement as Albus seemed to desire instead his gaze seemed to glow with anger as he whispered, "Whose idea was it to place the Dementors at Hogwarts?"

The gnarled old fingertips steeped together onto the lap of the Headmaster as he leaned back into the seat. This position let him look down on the boy as he attempted to take on the persona of a parent looking down on a disobedient child. Or perhaps better in this case an angry grandparent looking down at the boy, "The new Minister of Magic's cabinet along with several other important individuals reached the decision to place the dementors at Hogwarts."

The boy stared at the old man in the eyes, for a moment he almost accepted agreement and talked of his understanding of the decision. Then he felt his House Potter Heir ring heat up and looked down at it breaking eye contact. He looked at the other beds within the hospital wing and noticed that they were all empty. Harry looked up at the Headmaster, careful to have his eyes focus on the man's chin instead of his eyes this time. He made a simple, yet damning statement, "You were one of those that helped make this decision."

The silence was damning after the statement. It was a defining moment for the boy for he had just learned two facts. The first that somehow the Headmaster was influencing his thoughts and his ring warned him. But, far more important this man didn't care of the truth that Harry had given him. He would do what he felt was best for his greater good.

The Headmaster broke the silence changing the subject, "You will be happy to know what magic you did to the creature allowed your friend Ms. Granger to be okay. We will have to discuss what you did Harry…"

"Changing the subject does not change the answer Albus. You are all fools and your mistake has cost a good young man his life. I told you Sirius was innocent. If you cannot trust me, then I cannot trust you." The words came out almost as a growl as Harry spit them forth with venom, "Leave me."

The old man frowned as he looked at the young man. Then he opened his mouth to try to correct the situation, "Harry… Let us…"

Another growl accompanied Harry's mood as his eyes seemed to glow with energy as he spoke, "Leave me Albus. I have no desire to talk to you right now."

The ancient Headmaster let out a small sigh, remembering the boy's mother had the same temper. In time she always cooled down so would Harry. He gave a pat to the blanket over the legs then started to walk towards the door, "I will send in Ms. Granger."

Soon as he heard the door close Harry lowered his head into his hands as tears burst forth. He had acted with strength, fueled by anger but now that disappeared from Harry's body as it shivered and was wracked by sobs. The young man did not notice the feminine arms wrap around him from his friend. Nor did he see the tears mirroring his own on her cheeks flowing down as she held him. Hours past and the two never said a word; they just sat there together in silence and cried over the loss of their friend.

It was hours later when the boy was gently awoken by the strands of hair tickling his nose. His eyes started to flutter, a quick safety check drilled into him by Nymph ran through his mind. First, his eyes flicked about and he saw he was in the hospital wing. Second, he felt what had awoken him; it was long busy hair that fell over his face and tickled his neck. This meant one person, Hermione. There was a weight resting against the right side of his body which had numbed the arm in his sleep. Third, he heard the breathing at his side coming from the weight and silence that filled the rest of the chamber, which meant that they were alone. Fourth, the devastating news, that he did not have his wand in its holster on his left hand. This caused Harry to look around as he felt something was wrong. His summation was confirmed moments later as he saw it sitting broken on the stool next to him. His left arm slowly reached out to try to hold it but it was just a few inches too far.

Harry let out a sigh as his emerald eyes flicked to his right again at Hermione sleeping against him. He never remembered her entering and joining him last night in his grief. Yet, here she was beside him sleeping away. As he thought back to last night, she must have been the warmth that he felt while in tears. The loss he felt now was terrifying. He had been through hell in his life, from beatings to worse. But he never had experienced true loss. His parents were barely a memory yet Ron and Hermione had become his new family. Now that family had a black hole in the middle of it. Part of him wanted to run, to never experience this again. But, the more logical part of him, perhaps the aged part of his mind knew that these were the costs of friendship, but the cost was outweighed by what was granted.

His first friend was dead, he had failed to protect him. It was his fault that Ron was gone, his fault that he was not ready. He didn't know what he could have done differently but perhaps if he had been faster, more determined he could have stopped it. His throat let out a small growl of frustration, which caused the weight at his side to stir.

Hermione opened her eyes to see the despair on the face of Harry. She felt his chest, where her head was resting rumble with the growl of frustration. Her eyes spied the tears running down his cheeks and true sense of loss that wrapped up the boy. That was a look that Hermione knew, it was a look that she had seen before and she wouldn't let him close himself off. She slowly reached up with her free hand to touch Harry's chin. She touched him lightly as she turned his cheek to look into the boy's eyes, "Stop, It is not your fault."

Harry opened his mouth to speak but was silenced by the girl speaking again, "It was not your fault Harry."

"Hermione, I …."

"It was not your fault Harry."

She could see the look in his eyes, wanting to fight her words. She knew that no matter what she said it wouldn't change him. He had a complex, a need to save others and what he truly valued. A part of her was flattered that he cared for them so much, but it was something that needed to be fixed. The girl growled back at her best friend, "It was not your fault Harry. He saved me! He saved my life, do not cheapen what he did by blaming yourself! Would Ron want that?"

Finally, she could see in his eyes the understanding. He knew that she felt the same concerns that he did. After all she was who opened the door and let the monster in, she was who froze up and screamed instead of reacting with her wand. It was her that Ron pulled out of the way and saved from the distress. Harry spoke gently repeating her own words back to her, "It was not your fault."

The bushy haired girl smiled sadly as she spoke in a whisper, "No Harry, it was not our fault."

The emerald eyes sparkled as the boy looked up at her and whispered softly, "Indeed, but the key now is to find out whose fault it was."

For a brief few seconds Hermione was scared from the look in the eyes of her best friend. It was a look of pure anger and malice that burned with a passion strong enough to destroy a soul. Then it was gone, almost as if it was a bad dream as she heard Harry whisper softly, "I was so worried about you. You both are my family Hermione, I can't lose you too."

She smiled at the boy and gave her one of her patented hugs before speaking softly back, "You won't lose me Harry. I promise you." She ruffled his hair with a smile, "You are a brother to me as well."

The raven haired boy grimaced at the ruffling of the hair. He offered her back a small smile that faced away after a few moments as he let out a sigh, "It was all to capture an innocent man. He died to a demon that was there to capture an innocent man."

The statement ended the joy as the pair settled down into silence resting together for the next few hours till Madam Pomfrey finally kicked out Hermione and allowed Harry to be released from the hospital ward.

It was a few hours after midday when Harry was released from the hospital ward. He had been given strict instructions to go to the Gryffindor Tower and rest. In addition, Madam Pomfrey wanted to see him the next morning before the funeral to check over his recovery from the magical exhaustion. It seemed his magical core had been almost fully depleted from whatever had happened with the Dementor. Whether it was the demonic magic of the creature sucking his magic from the very air by it's presence or the dagger Harry didn't know. He merely shrugged at the question when asked by Hermione or Madam Pomfrey. All he would tell of was that it was the power of Ron's sacrifice and love for his friends that must have destroyed the dark creature. It had worked with his mother, so why not here?

The boy stumbled through the hallways leading up to the Gryffindor common room. The fat lady opened the portrait to his home away from hell with a quick whisper of the password. Harry could swear he saw tears on her eyes as she looked at him, but it must have been his imagination as portraits cannot cry.

He stepped through the portrait feeling like he was in a daze, like he was damaged goods. The common room was filled with every member of Gryffindor tower. It seemed every person was in their different little groups or cliques and talked together, everyone but the Weasley family whom were absent.

When Harry entered the room numerous heads shot up and looked at him. A few of the students even pointed and started to call out. Harry could see some of his schoolmates had eyes filled with concern for his welfare, but others seemed to have the same lingering distance that he had experienced last year when he was thought to be the Heir of Slytherin. It seemed the whisper of the day was that if you get near Harry Potter, you end up in the hospital ward or dead. Harry couldn't deny it, it seemed his friends always were in trouble for something.

Mentally the boy really did not want to deal with the numerous people in the chamber. He really had no intention of sharing the story of his experience. But, in the back of his mind, the new local and Slytherin side knew that if he blocked out the others they would decide for themselves what happened. Instead he must seek to control the situation. He would need to be firm and control what was told, since Hermione didn't remember, it was the perfect opportunity.

So with a heavy Heart Harry stepped into the room and looked about the chamber with no need to call attention. He cleared his throat and all of the whispers died off. Knowing this was the best chance he would get Harry spoke up, "A good man died yesterday. One of our friends, one of our brothers is gone from us forever. What happened on that train was wrong in every sense of the word. The Headmaster and Ministry were wrong to allow it. What is worse they are chasing an innocent man with those very demonic creatures of nightmare. I say we mourn our brother of Gryffindor and make the world know of his sacrifice. His nobility should live on as what it truly means to be a member of House Gryffindor. He stood up when the darkness was surrounding him, he saved the lives of those he cared for the most and sacrificed himself for their welfare. There is no higher form of love then what Ronald Weasley did for Hermione and myself."

Harry paused a moment letting his eyes linger over the crowd in the silence. He could tell that they were feeding off of his words, they were living for every breath let out. Now he had them it was time to go for the kill, "While we mourn our brother we need to remember that this is a terrible mistake. This should not have happened! We need to stand up and tell our parents. We need to tell the media and even Ministry what took place. It could have been anyone in this very room and the danger continues as those monsters are still outside our walls. We are besieged by evil placed there by the Headmaster of this Institution. All to hunt an innocent man whom was tossed into prison without a trial. Now the Chief Warlock is trying to cover it up with these monsters, cover up what the previous Head of the DMLE and Minister did. The blame of Ronald Weasley's death lies on their shoulders."

Again there was silence in the chamber as Harry watched the gathered students with a sadness in his eyes, "I urge each of you, if you wish to remember the heroic actions of Ron then to take up this fight in his name. Make certain that it is not labeled as a tragic loss and forgotten. But, instead make his name a rally cry for justice. We need to know those responsible for this event are dealt with. We need to see the innocent not suffer. Remember Ronald Weasley and live to stand up for the innocent."

Harry fell to silence a final time and looked about the room. The moment was held in silence as it seemed nobody wanted to even breathe to break the spell of Harry's speech. Most everyone in the common room was without a dry eye, he even felt the tears on his own cheeks. Before a few of them, including Hermione started to come over Harry held up his hand, "Good night, I am going to my chambers to grieve for my first ever friend."

Harry walked into his empty room that he had shared with his best friend. His eyes lingered for a moment on the empty spot where Ron's bed was last year. The House elves seemed to work quickly, was the sad thought that came over him. Then his lips twisted in a disturbed grin of malice.

The boy took out a quill and parchment and started to write multiple notes. He quickly scrawled out the letters then sealed them with his ring for the Heir of House Potter. "Dobby."

In a flash the elf appeared before the boy. "Great Master Harry Potter called for Dobby? Dobby sorry Master Harry Potter's friend Ron died. Ron Weasley was always good to Dobby."

Harry smiled sadly to the House elf who tried to give him a hug. He returned it with a squeeze then gently handed over four letters, "Please bring these to the assigned people. I have placed the names on the outside of each of them Dobby. It must be done right away, do not let anything stop you. This is my order Dobby. They must receive these in the next hour or I will be very angry."

The big eyes of Dobby blinked and looked large as saucers. He appeared to be startled at the idea of Harry Potter being angry. Then he bobbed his head quickly and disappeared with the scrolls quickly.

Harry let out a sighed before he plucked up his invisibility cloak then stepped out of the room. He moved quickly away from all others from the Gryffindor common room to climb the stairs to one of the seldom used towers of the school. There he pulled open the window and sat on the ledge staring out into the night unseen to the world. The boy remained alone in his thoughts and tears till he passed out asleep.

The boy was awoken in the early hours of the morning by his House elf. Dobby was gently grasping to his left shoulder and giving a shake. The invisibility cloak had fallen off lightly to uncover only a bit of the boy, yet the elf had found him through his magical core. Slowly the eyes of Harry Potter opened just as the night seemed to start to fade away with the dawn. He looked up at Dobby and held out his hand as three letters were placed into it. Slowly the boy broke open the scrolls to read them over not speaking an acknowledgement to the elf. It was after he finished that he looked up with a smile, "Thank you Dobby. I appreciate what you did last night. I appreciate a friend like you."

The house elf looked wide eyed at his master then started to tear up as he leaped forward almost knocking the pair from the window sill. He blubbered and cried against Harry's hip as the boy patted the house elf on the back.

Harry smiled down at the creature and spoke softly, "Dobby, I need to get back to my chambers in order to get ready for today. It will be a hard day, the funeral is today and I need to make an important side trip soon as it is completed. Will you take me to my room?"

"Yes Harry Potter Sir!" The elf spoke up as he snapped transporting the pair of them to Harry's shared room to get ready for the day.

The funeral had gone how Harry had suspected it to go. His very bones felt like they were aching in pain from what he saw. The boy could see that the Weasley family was crushed. Hermione was crushed, and many of his friends were as well. Harry, knew in his heart that he was in despair for what took place, but a part of his saw that he needed to seize this chance while he could. That logical, perhaps dark, side of him knew that he would mourn later as there was work that needed to be done. If Ron was ever going to be avenged he would have to outwit powerful people. But, it was more than just making them pay. This was an opportunity to use them, make a fool of them and someday destroy them. He never had liked to use his fame as the boy-who-lived. But, today would be the time to do that.

He met up with Nymph at the funeral and had left just after it was finished. The excuse given to Professor McGonagall was that he would be taken to the Ministry for his question of what took place. But, what was more important was that in three hours the Minister of Magic would be making a speech. Depending on how that speech went, most likely he would be removed from office. Would the Minister then pay for what he did? He would lose his job, but others under him that had actually most likely controlled the demon would be free. Others that failed to protect his friends safety and his own would get away. He was tried of letting others get away, it seemed all of the Death Eaters had managed to get away in the past. But, this time, this situation, he would find a way to change this to his advantage and perhaps control what took place.

They arrived in the Ministry through the front entrance. As always his appearance caused a bit of stares. It was not often that the "Hero" of the Wizarding world of Britain was seen escorted by an Auror into the offices of the Ministry. He was sure that the newspapers and wireless would know of it soon. Actually he was positive that the wireless already knew of it, as he had told them the night before through the member of the board controlling his interests.

Once they were out of the public eye a familiar blonde haired woman and dark haired man stepped from one of the side rooms to flank Harry and Nymphadora. He turned and smiled at the pair of them with bright eyes as they walked towards the Minister's office, "Mr. Greengrass, Aunt Narcissa. It is an unexpected pleasure to meet each of you this day."

The eyes of Cyrus looked a bit saddened to the boy ass he forced a smile towards Harry, "Harry, I am sorry for your loss. If there is anything…."

Harry waived him off with a returned smile filled with sadness, "Later I will mourn Mr. Greengrass. I know, it could have been anyone. Even either of your own children or cousin Draco. We are just lucky that Ron made the sacrifice to destroy that vile creature. He shall be remembered for what he did. I need only find the proper way."

If his aunt had any sadness it was not seen in her eyes, yet there was a bit of pride as she looked at the boy. Her lessons at the end of summer had seemed to been paying off. She reached over and gaze slight squeeze to his left arm of support that was unseen by any but the closest eyes studying them before continuing to walk in silence. After all it should be a pretense that her family and House Potter were not friendly or allies for this to work. It was merely a coincidence that she was here at the same time as her rival over the issue.

They arrived at the desk of the secretary of the Minister as a short curvy witch saw there. She had dark black hair and brown eyes with a smile that seemed to reflect the light to blinding proportions. She smiled at the group before her without it reaching her eyes, "Name and do you have an appointment?"

Narcissa stepped forward with a returned smile that did not meet her eyes for the young witch as she spoke first, "I am Lady Malfoy and the Minister will hear me right away."

"And I am the boy-who-lived, Heir Harry James Potter. I would also like to speak with the Minister. It is the up most importance for my conversation to take place prior to his press conference." Harry gave his best smile to the young witch who suddenly grew stars in her eyes at the side of the young celebrity.

"Right away Lady Malfoy and Mr. Potter, "the young woman spoke up with a bright smile directed at Harry. Her eyes seemed to be looking at the boy like a piece of meat as she wrote onto a pad of parchment with a quill. The message disappeared then a different message appeared back moments later. She smiled brightly, "The Minister will be happy to see you now."

The chambers of Minister Fudge were filled with lavish luxury. There were rare hand painted middle-eastern porcelain tiles on the walls, Chinese vases, even an old English suit of armor. His desk was made of rich mahogany with gold inlay. A few pieces of rare art from Wizarding France hung behind the desk. On the desk itself was a stack of papers that needed to be worked, a silver pocket watch, a few quills, booklet like the secretary's own, and finally a parchment filled with ink stains that appeared to be a speech.

The Minister was a portly little man with rumpled grey hair. He was dressed in a pinstripe suit with the jacket hung over the back of his chair. The man's eyes looked up as the entered, quickly he stood up with a smile, "What was a wonderful surprise. I did not expect such interesting company this day."

Harry took one look at the greed, and surprise in the man's eyes and at once he knew this would be easier then he thought. He turned on the charm with a bright smile, "Minister, it is an honor to get an audience with you. I wished desperately to speak with you about the recent episode on the train."

The man rubbed his hands together as he let out a sigh and seemed to shake to his core at the idea, "A terrible thing. A terrible, terrible thing. I am sorry for your friend my dear boy."

The raven haired boy had to resist the urge to grind his teeth at being called "My boy." Yet, he was able to smile brightly as the prize needed to be his concern, "Indeed Minister. It is because of that incident that I felt the need to come to visit you right away. I was wondering if you might want some friendly assistance or advice?"

The grey haired man's eyes widened at the idea and a smile came over his lips, "Oh you would stand up there with me at the speech my boy? A show of support for the Ministry despite the situation would go a far ways."

"I am sure it would Minister. But, it would be dangerous for me to stand up there next to you. Don't you think the rest of the Wizarding world would want to view me in a poor light as they do you right now?" Harry raised an eyebrow as he frowned in fake consideration.

Narcissa chose that moment to speak up as she kept a neutral look on her face, "Indeed Mr. Potter. I would be close to political suicide unless there was a proper plan." Her eyes turned to look at the Minister whose face seemed to be growing pale by the moment, "But, I am sure the Minister would be grateful for any assistance at the moment?"

Cyrus joined the conversation by placing a hand on the shoulder of Harry with a sadness etched to his face, "Harry, I know you want to help the good man but remember it would be dangerous. Others will take it as an opportunity to try to claim you are not ready to run your own household. Dumbledore may try to claim your seats again. Unless …"

Harry frowned as he looked up at Cyrus, "But Mr. Greengrass, I want to help the good Minister. Perhaps you are both right Lady Malfoy and Mr. Greengrass. It would not be good for House Potter to become the middle of this. Though Ron was my best friend and I am sure my word would sway many an opinion. Perhaps the Minister would be willing to agree to some terms for my risk?"

Emerald eyes turned towards the Minister with a sad smile as he spoke gently, "Would you be willing to consider a few minor things Minister?"

Fudge seemed caught up and pale as a ghost as he looked back and forth between the three. He had been given the carrot and well informed of the stick that awaited him. He let out a sigh with a frown, "What would you wish for your assistance in this endeavor Harry?"

Harry motioned to the chair before the Minister's desk. At the wave of the Minister he sat down as did the two purebloods at his sides. With a smile that was warm and friendly, yet had a predator's glare in his eyes he spoke smoothly, "I have a few ideas that I would like your consideration on. A few ideas for how the Ministery can improve the education at Hogwarts, and finally a way to distract the Wizarding World from the terrible tragedy that took place to my best friend."

The Minister frowned as he looked at the boy in consideration, "A distraction?"

"Yes, The Wizarding World will talk of the incident on the train as the lead story unless they have something more satisfying to consider Minister. What would be a better option than a Lord of a Most Ancient and Noble House imprisoned without a trail or chance to speak his peace to Azkaban by the former Minister that was truly innocent?" Harry spoke gently and smoothly with the option as he looked the Minister in the eyes. A sad smile came over his lips as he spoke softly, "But, first I need a single answer. I want the truth of this Minister Fudge or else I will walk out there and rant and rave before the press about my best friend's murder. I will remind the world daily with stories of his bravery and goodness. I will remind them that the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter almost came to an end by a kiss of that demon that Ron slew."

There was silence in the room as the minister looked white in the face as he looked at the young man. His lips pressed together as a bit of anger was in his eyes, yet understanding too.

Harry spoke up gently as his emerald eyes burned with a killing curse fire in the sockets. A stark reminder of this boy that survived that very curse, "But, I do not want that Minister. I like you. You helped me this summer and protected me when you did not have to. My only question was this. Which of your Undersecretaries were in charge of the Dementors controlling Hogwarts?"

Cornelius Fudge slowly looked between the three purebloods for a second. A bit of shock in his eyes as he met the gaze of Narcissa Malfoy, the family that had always backed his bid in politics, only to see her nod once. The man let out a sigh then spoke one word, "Umbridge."

The lips of the young man curved into a bright smile, "That was not too hard. Now that we know that truth, lets save your career. I have prepared a list of things to do in order to survive this terrible tragedy Minister. I believe these suggestions are necessary for today to become a success."

Cyrus placed a sealed scroll down onto the desk of the Minister while Harry talked. The Minister slowly opened it up and read it over. Harry smiled for the man, again not reaching his eyes, "I truly believe Minister that we can have a long fruitful relationship together. I look forward to seeing you become the longest, most beloved, Minister ever."

Flashback end

Harry let out a side as he plucked up a rock to skim along the waters of the black lake. The daylight was fast fading away but he knew this was a day he would not forget. A part of him felt that he had betrayed his best friend, sold his soul for what? More power? Still, it was the best alternative; the press conference had gone on perfectly as he expected it to. The Minister spoke then he did and the press ate up what he said. There were investigations going on right at this moment on this Umbridge woman, not to mention Barty Crouch Sr. for his throwing Sirius into jail without a trial. The Dementors had been recalled from Hogwarts and the school was safe. Just as important the arrest warranty for his godfather had been recalled, he was now wanted for "questioning". Even a few of his suggestions had been taken into effect and should come to fruition soon.

Still though his thoughts plagued by what he had done. Did the ends justify the means?

"Hello Harry Potter." The voice was soft and distant almost distracted but it pulled him from his thoughts as he turned his emerald eyes onto the girl that spoke the words in surprise. She was small, most likely a first or second year, standing barely five foot in height. The girl had dirty blonde hair and pale skin. But, it was her eyes that stood out, they were very beautiful silvery grey eyes that seemed to be large and open to the world around her. She smiled easily at the boy, "I am sorry I distracted you. You looked like you might need someone to talk to."

The boy didn't truly feel like being near others but he didn't feel like being alone anymore either. He offered a polite smile and stood up slowly brushing off the dirt from the back of his elegant robes, "It is okay, I am Harry. It is nice to meet you."

The girl blinked in surprise but smiled brightly, "A wakenspurt must have made me forget. I am Luna Lovegood."

"It is nice to meet you Luna. What brings you out here to the lake so late in the day?" Harry smiled warmly to the girl since she seemed good hearted.

"The nargles have stolen some of my things and I thought that they might be out here. I found some out here at the end of last year. Then I saw you swarmed by wakenspurts and I thought you might need to talk to someone." She spoke as she tilted her head to the side seeming to study Harry or at least look through him at the magical beasts.

"Nargles? What are nargles and wakenspurts?"

Luna looked at him with a frown at his confusion, "Nargles are creatures that like to steal things and hide them. They are trouble. Wakenspurts are creatures that caused your thoughts to be clouded and you to become moody."

Harry smiled at the girl, not certain if she was just trying to cheer him up, or if these were true creatures in the Wizarding world or perhaps she was insane. But, no matter what at least he was starting to get out of his thoughts and forget his long bad few days, "Perhaps you can sit here and tell me about Nargles and how I can protect myself from them and waaakenspurrts."

Harry pulled off his cloak and laid it down for both of them to sit on with a smile, "Please sit with me my new friend Luna and tell me about these creatures?"

Luna lowered down to sit crossing her legs and leaning back with a bright smile, "I am your friend?"

The boy lowered down next to the girl with a smile, "Of course Luna Lovegood."

"It is nice to have a friend, I never had one before." Luna spoke up quietly as she looked over at the boy with wide eyes.

Harry held the gaze of the girl for long moments before he looked back to the sunset over the lake with a sad smile, "You do now Luna. Now tell me about these nargles..."

**Author Note: **

**I am very glad that some folks liked the last chapter. To those that disliked it, and are Ron fans. I am very sorry. He wont come back but he will be a theme in the story in the back of Harry's mind often and his death made imo a bigger impact then his life did in cannon. Also for the final pairing(s) that still will be figured out eventually. I can promise it will not be Hermione or Ginny though. This chapter felt a little rough. I had it written about a day after the death of Ron chapter but I kept having problems with the ending. Part of me feelings I do a very poor Luna unfortunately. As always thank you for reading, I can't believe we have so many followers and readings. I appreciate all of the reviews and advise. **

**Author Note 2: I am looking for a Beta to help out as I know WSW is busy with college. If anyone would want to help out, please just let me know.**

**Story recommendation: Harry Dursley and the Chronicles of the King**


	12. First week back

**The Shadow of the Wizarding World**

**By: Jamnaz79**

**Beta: Looking for a Beta for this story**

**-x-x-x-x-x-**

_Note: I do not own Harry Potter for the book, movies, etc etc etc._

_**-SotWW-**_

_Luna lowered down to sit crossing her legs and leaning back with a bright smile, "I am your friend?"_

_The boy lowered down next to the girl with a smile, "Of course Luna Lovegood."_

"_It is nice to have a friend, I never had one before." Luna spoke up quietly as she looked over at the boy with wide eyes._

_Harry held the gaze of the girl for long moments before he looked back to the sunset over the lake with a sad smile, "You do now Luna. Now tell me about these nargles..."_

It was supposed to be a quick trip to the alley to get a new wand. Yet, Harry Potter was still standing there in the main room of Ollivander's after the noon sun was turning to afternoon. It had been six hours so far and Harry could swear that he had seen every single wand in the entire store. More than three dozen of the beautiful creations laid on the ground in shattered remains from the experiment to find him a wand. Kingsley stood in the corner of the shop close to falling asleep.

The old shop keeper at first had seemed ecstatic at the opportunity to match Harry with a wand. He had been a difficult customer before and now this was a chance to truly shine and show that he had everything possible for any customer. As the different wands tried started to pile up the man seemed to become more determined. But, after the hours had passed he slowly started to realize the fact. There was not a wand here for Mr. Potter.

The old man shuffled out of the back room with a pair of boxes and placed them down onto the counter with a frown, "Mr. Potter, I believe these are the last two in the shop that we have not tried this afternoon."

The wand crafter unboxed the first wand looking it over with consideration before holding it out to Harry. "Twelve inches, made of birth with a basilisk fang for a core."

Harry gently looked over the wand then gave a subtle flick at the plant in the corner. He could feel the wands strength, a vicious power filled the wand to bursting then the spell was released at the plant. A bit of smoke slowly rose from the tip of the wand as the boy lowered it down with a frown. "I don't think this was the one. It couldn't handle the strength behind the spell."

The old crafter took back the wand with a frown then placed it down into the box. Slowly he opened up the final box and handed over the wand to the boy, "Fourteen inches of Black Holly, tears of a sphinx willingly given."

Harry looked over the wand that seemed very ancient with runes carved into it. He looked up with a frown at the wand maker, "You didn't make this wand did you?"

Ollivander shook his head slowly back and forth, "No, it was an ancient wand from a powerful witch. The wand was crafted after a witch bested a sphinx in a contest of one hundred riddles. She won the tears for that wand and the land of her castle. That wand has been in my family for numerous generations and is considered priceless."

Harry gently examined the wand, his fingertips trembled as he could feel the care and history that it had been given. He could feel the eyes of the old man staring at him in curiosity, watching with a calculating consideration. Slowly the boy hefted the handle of the wand and closed his eyes concentrating. He could feel the power of the wand shooting through his core far stronger than his old wand. Just as when he first touched his original wand he felt the light seeming to wrap around his body and a wind pick up to swirl around him. His fingertips raised the wand upwards to point at the plant with concentration magic shot forth to cause the aged dried husk to grow into a vibrant plant.

The boy turned to look back at the old man with a smile, "We have found one. Now the only question to consider is how much is priceless Mr. Ollivander?"

Twenty minutes later the Auror walked from the shop following the young man. The boy had his new wand, for a price that was outrageous and would clear out most Wizarding families. The wand was now attached through a special holster to the right hand of the boy. He had two other holsters attached to his left arm and his right leg both empty but purchased for storage in case he had to hide the wand. At least that is the excuse given by the boy to Kingsley.

His orders had been to take the boy to get his wand then back right away but it seemed his charge had a mind of his own. The boy was walking away down the alley swiftly towards a supply and antique store. "Harry, where are you going?"

The young man looked back with a smile, "I need to get one item first before we go back to school. I hope they still have them available though."

Harry continued to move quickly to inside of the shop shooting the owner a quick smile as he walked around to look at the cases stopping before a selection of knives. His emerald eyes looked over the stock before stopping to linger on a trio of pairs. He raised his right hand and motioned to the owner.

George Smith, owner of Smith's supply and antique store walked over the young student that had come into his story. He had seen the man that trailed the boy, an Auror or at least part of ministry, before in the streets. Like hell was he going to be caught selling to minors a dangerous weapon and getting into trouble, "How can I help you young man?"

The young man raised his emerald eyes to meet the gaze of the older man. He made a quick motion to the three sets of daggers in the case, "I have an interest in those three sets of hunting knives. Would I be able to see them?"

"I do not mind showing you them young man but you know that you are too young to purchase them without your parents here with you."

The boy frowned as he looked up at the shopkeeper then tapped his right hand onto the display case. The distinctive sound of a ring knocking against the case was easily distinguished pulling the eyes of George down to it. The seal was one that was easily identifiable and easily remembered. The older man blinked then looked up at the boy searching for the telltale scar that used to be there on the forehead. Strangely the look caused the boy's smile to slip into a frown.

The frown of the boy broke as he raised his chin with an arrogance that would make a Malfoy proud, "Mr. Smith, I am Harry James Potter, Lord of House Potter. I am old enough to purchase some hunting equipment. Now will you show me those three sets of daggers or will I need to go elsewhere and make known that I do not shop here?"

The idea of the boy-who-lived letting it be known that he shunned his shop was not a pleasant concept for his future business prospects. On the other hand, letting it known that Lord Potters shops often here would be a pleasant chance for his business to get some free advertisements. George Smith smiled at the boy, "My apologies my Lord, I was not aware that you had been emancipated."

Harry waved off the comment and looked down at the daggers as George pulled them from the case, "It was just done very recently by the minister. It is perfectly fine. Now tell me of these daggers."

George held up two knives that seemed to be modeled after the American Bowie knife style. They were crafted in all silver with a dragon hide leather handle and capped at the end in ivory. Along the blade was an etching of a rhino, "My lord these are fine African hunting knives crafted in the late eighteen hundreds for hunting in Africa. They are enspelled to easily sheer away hide from flesh, even the tough hides of dragons can be cleaned away. In addition they are self-cleaning. The price on these sets are fifty gallons."

The shopkeeper placed down the knives then plucked up a pair of slender silver daggers that were about ten inches for the blades. They were wrapped in regular tanned leather that looked worn and cut to groves. "These are throwing daggers once used by travellers for a throwing game. They are enspelled not always be sharp and to return to their sheath whenever they are thrown. The price on this set of daggers is one hundred gallons."

The man slowly plucked up the final set of final set of daggers. These two looked ancient in appearance. The dirks had silver blades that were only an inch and a half wide by around six inches long. The hilts were wrapped in horse hide and had Latin scrawled in small letting over the blades. Harry leaned over closely to try to read the words and whispered softly, "Alea iacta est."

The shopkeeper smiled at the boy nobleman with a nod, "The die has been cast. These daggers are ancient and the most expensive of the three pairs. They are enspelled for protection, it is believed that they will vibrate when they are in the presence of a sworn enemy. They were said to be crafted in ancient Rome for a man named Brutus as a gift for his friend. I believe the man is known as Julius Caesar."

Harry leaned back and frowned tapping his fingertips to his chin. "I am intrigued by each of them Mr. Smith. You did not name a price for the final set of daggers?"

The shopkeeper could see the eyes of the boy were drawn to the final set of daggers and he smiled. He always knew when he could drag in a nobleman for a sale. A muggle raised, supposedly, nobleman would love the idea of owning a knives held by the famous muggle. "The price would be five thousand gallons for the final daggers."

Harry frowned as he shook his head slowly with a sight, "Unfortunately that is far too much. I am sure you would consider to take three thousand for the trio of sets."

Smith frowned back at the boy not expecting the bickering over prices. While it was done by many, most would expect a youth to leap at the chance to purchase expensive items for their own prestige. "Four thousand for the three sets."

The boy again shook his head, causing his long locks to slide back and forth against his shoulders, "No, that is too much Mr. Smith. I would pay you three thousand four hundred."

The man frowned for a second time as he glared down at the merchandise, "We will be at this all day my Lord. How about we end the game and agree at three thousand seven hundred gallons for the set."

Harry held out his hand to the man with a smile. The shop keep went to reach out to accept the handshake with a returned smile, "three thousand six hundred gallons."

George Smith couldn't help but laugh at the boy's tenacity, "Very well Lord Potter. Of course I will make it known that you shop here."

"I look forward to being back regularly to inspect all of your available goods."

The words caused a slight raise of an eyebrow from Smith as he glanced towards the Auror noticing the man was looking around the shop away from the transaction, "I think that can be arranged perhaps over next summer. Please sign here and add your vault number."

Harry initialed in the correct places then smiled, "Thank you for the business Mr. Smith." He carefully tied the sheaths for the throwing daggers to his ankles. Then he took hold of the dirks and bowie knives and walked out of the store followed by the Auror.

The boy stopped a few feet from the store and frowned to himself looking down at the dirks, "Dobby."

A crack was heard as the House elf appeared before Harry, "How many Dobby help great Lord Harry Potter today Master?"

Harry gently handed over the bowie knives first to House elf with a smile, "Dobby these will help with the project we talked about. The hunting trophies that I want to acquire. You have gathered the other house elves that I wanted correct?"

"Yes Master Harry. I have acquired three other House elves for the rebuilding of the estate manor and they all are trained for the hunting project." The big eyes of Dobby shined as he carefully held the knives given to him. He smiled with adoration up at the young Lord.

"Good Dobby. I want you to start working on the project right away. But first, please take these back to the apartment and let Nymph know that I got her a gift. Just tell here where to get it but not what it is. Understood?"

Harry watched the little elf nod repeatedly then smiled, "Good, if I need further assistance I will call for you Dobby."

He watched the little elf disappear in a burst of light then felt a hand on his shoulder. At first went ridged still not used to the human contact. But, his emerald eyes turned towards the Auror with a small smile, "I am sorry I have taken your full day Kingsley."

"It is no trouble Harry, but we should get back before the old man gets upset." The Auror offered back with a bright smile which drew a nod from Harry.

"Indeed, let us return. It has been a productive afternoon." Harry was about to walk over towards the Auror when out of the corner of his eye he spotted an art's gallery. A smile was given towards the Auror, "One more quick stop I think."

The pair walked into the gallery for a quick look around before returning to school.

The first few days back for classes were very different than normal for Harry. While Hermione seemed to be attached to him as a shadow, he sorely was missing Ron. The rest of the Weasley family had not yet returned to the school. Harry could feel the distance from the family just by their lack of being there. He may not be blood to them but he understood a bit of their pain right now. Harry tried to keep a bit of distance from most folks, including members of his house after remembering how last year he was shunned. Most of the school had shunned him from the belief that he was the Heir of Slytherin. A fact that he had disproven over dinner with Cyrus this summer, yet it still hurt to know that he was so easily turned on. He kept a list over the summer remembering those that turned against him over the incident. Perhaps someday he could pull a bit of marauder on them all, maybe once the twins returned.

Harry took the time to start a routine for himself. He would wake up around six in the morning and get dressed for a brief run. He would jog up to the quidditch field and run laps around it before heading back. Tonks always said to him, the stronger the body the stronger the core. He would then take a shower and head to off to an early breakfast normally studying at the same time. Now that he knew that he would have to make a proper impression for his family Harry was determined to be at the top of his year.

The teachers seemed to be much the same as every year. Binns was still terribly boring but now Harry was trying his best to stay awake. He even took some notes and with Hermione's help he was able to keep awake during the same droning lectures. Perhaps one of his next goals could be for next year to hire an exorcist to get rid of the ghost!

Potions seemed to be much the same, Snape was still a complete asshole to him. A few of his comments for the first class were caused Harry to be close to going over the line. Once again Hermione was there to help keep him on the correct path. The two of them now worked as potions lab partners since Ron was no longer there. Harry found it be far better having her as his partner then Neville. The poor boy was a good guy but terrible at potions.

A second thing that Harry noticed in potions was Daphne Greengrass. The Slytherin girl he had met over summer was in the class, of course, since she was part of House Slytherin. She seemed to do her work with a strawberry blonde girl at her side. He wasn't sure her name, but then he never really asked anyone's name in the first few years for those outside of Gryffindor. That was a practice he would have to change, hell his house hadn't really supported him fully perhaps he can make some more friends. Not to mention that many of the children in this school were future heirs of their family, he would be working with them someday. It was best to foster the business and political contacts now to grow for the future.

It did bother him at first that Daphne had never visited him on the train. He was looking forward to meeting her sister Astoria, was her name. At least he thought that was her name. Perhaps she had planned to come near the end of the train ride, if so he was sorely out to the world at that moment. Perhaps sometime he could quietly get a message to meet the girl and talk to her. She was a very intriguing individual, if a little distant and cold. Then again it could just be hormones and the normal belief to want what you can't have acting up.

Herbology was something that Harry still found relaxing. The subject was all about gardening, something that thanks to his aunt he had gotten plenty of practice in over the years. He never had been given top marks in the class but he was far better than most there.

Transfiguration had started off well for the year. Professor McGonagall had done a practical review with an essay for anyone that could not complete ten different transfiguration assignments that had been learned over the two previous years. Harry was actually able to accomplish it first for the class earning Gryffindor ten points. His new wand felt perfect in his hand, it made the magic feel easier than his old one ever had for him. It was as if the requirements to cast the spells that he once struggled to do were a breeze. This summer he had reviewed most of these spells while with Tonks, but this time it was far easier. It seemed a smooth class till the end when he was asked to stay late.

"Potter, please wait a moment after class. I would like a word with you."

The classroom quickly emptied of students so he packed up then walked up to her desk, "Yes Professor?"

The elderly woman gaze a tight lipped smile, the most one could get from the stern battle axe. "Potter, your performance today was very good. I was told by the Headmaster that you had been practicing. He also told me you might be interested in extra sessions during the year with Professor Flitwick, Professor Lupin and myself. That is of course if you feel up to it?"

Harry blinked in surprise, with all that had happened he had forgotten the Dumbledore's agreement over the summer. Then he offered a warm smile, "I would love the chance to have sessions for study professor. Do to my unique circumstances I fear I might need them someday in the future."

A frown etched at the corners of the woman's mouth at his statement, her eyes locked onto Harry's for a moment, "Very well. You will be meeting with each of us for two hours a night, one to two days a week. That will take up a lot of your time and I expect to not see your grades fall in your other courses. It was made clear to me that this year you will work diligently to keep up with Ms. Granger at the top portion of the class. If you fail at this, I might even have to remove your quidditch privileges. "

A bit of whiteness crept into the cheeks and neck of Harry at her statement as he swallowed, "I promise, you won't have to worry about that. I will work as hard as possible Professor."

"Good." The single word seemed to sum up the conversation and act a dismissal. Harry smiled to the Deputy Headmistress then turned to depart the room.

Just before Harry left the room he paused not looking back at the Professor, "Professor, I found a journal of my mother's this summer. She wrote that you were always my father's favorite"

If Harry had turned around he would have seen the cheeks of Professor McGonagall turn pink and a bit of wetness start to creep at the corners of her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out of the woman that always seemed to have a word ready at all times. She was surprised by the statement and hit emotionally.

Harry smiled to himself as he pushed open the door and spoke as he slipped out, "I just thought you should know that he was thankful and cared."

The door closed slowly as an old woman walked over to her window and looked out at the grounds in silence for a long time in her memories.

Charms class was a repeat of transfiguration in that it was a review of the previous years. Harry again performed the practical parts very quickly, getting a slight look of surprise from Hermione. Harry earned ten points for his quick and perfect execution of his charms work. After class he was asked to stay afterwards.

The classroom had cleared as the diminutive professor sat at his desk. Harry walked up with a smile on his face, "Professor, I was told by Professor McGonagall that I would get some time to tutor with you this year?"

"Yes Harry, I was asked to help you out learning some charms and other things. " The diminutive charms master spoke up with his squeaky voice.

The smile given to the man was genuine as he always seemed happy and willing to help students. Even more than his own head of house the charms master was truly a pleasant person, "Professor, I read in my mother's journal that you are a dueling champion?"

The little man's chest puffed up a little bit at the title as he ruffled his mustache end, "Yes, I was before coming to Hogwarts in the early 1970s Harry."

"Would you be willing to teach me the art? I was thinking of trying my hand at junior competitions this summer. The chance to learn from a true master would be a wonderful thing." Harry smiled brightly to the teacher.

A blink of surprise at the request as Flitwick was quiet in thoughts, "I never have taken a student Harry. I put that part of my life behind me when I came to here. But, perhaps we can work something out in your extra sessions."

Harry bowed his head respectfully with a bright smile at the professor, "Thank you Master Flitwick. I look forward to our training sessions."

Again the charms master was surprised at the title then smiled brightly, "Just remember to do your homework young man. I expect you to be one of the best in the class this year if I am giving you extra training. Now off with you to your next class before you are late."

Harry turned and started towards the door, "I promise you Master Flitwick, you will be surprised at how good I will do this year."

For defense class it seemed the teacher was competent. Harry knew who Remus Lupin was from his mother's journals and just as important he knew what Remus Lupin was. The boy was curious how long would it take for one of his father's former best friends to actually talk to him and tell him who he was. The man was supposed to be an uncle to him. There was a good chance he would have been a close family member if his parents were not killed. Instead the man had disappeared and never bothered to check in on him. Was Harry upset by this fact? Of course, he was very upset at the man, to the point that the mere sight of him made him grit his teeth.

For the class itself, it seemed to be run well. At least it was not total crap like Lockhart or unable to be understood like with Quirrell. Instead, Harry merely left right away instead of getting drawn into a conversation for his special studies. He managed to ignore the calling of his name, pretending not to hear as he left the room to his next class. Eventually of course he would have to meet the Professor and have a conversation. But, he would take his time for now.

That was how the first week went for Harry Potter, no near deaths, no possible murders, not even a trip to the infirmary. Perhaps for once Harry might get a quiet year, then again he was Harry Potter, fates bitch so that was unlikely.

**Author Note: **

**Hello Everyone,**

**First I want to say thank you to everyone that has been reading the story and letting me know how much they are enjoying it. I am truly surprised that so many are following and I hope enjoying the story. I really do appreciate and love the critical views and support for the story. I try to answer back as many reviews as possible. So please keep up the comments, I love to read them.**

**Beta – WSW hasn't reviewed the last couple of chapters and I haven't heard back for a few weeks. I know they are most likely busy which is cool. Everyone has a life. I am looking for a new Beta if possible. Anyone want to assist please just say so. I really do need the help with my grammar.**

**I hope you all enjoy**

**J**

**PS: Year 3 should go by pretty quickly, but there will be a few major events.**


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